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Number  10 

JAPAN:  IN  HISTORY,  FOLK-LORE 
AND  ART 


By  william  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS 


JAPAN 

IN  HISTORY,  FOLK  LORE 
AND  ART 


BY 


WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS 

AUTHOR  OF  “the  MIKADO’S  EMPIRE,”  “JAPANESE  FAIRY  WORLD  ' 
“MATTHEW  GALBRAITH  PERRY,”  ETC. 


BOSTON  AND  NEW^YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 
i^itewiDc  12'rcss,  Cambribfle 
1894 


Copyright,  1892, 

By  william  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  & Company. 


DEDICATED 

TO 

THE  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 
OF 

CONSTIT  UTION  AL 


' JAPAN 


PREFACE. 


! In  this  contribution  to  the  Riverside  Library 
j for  Young  People,  I have  told  more  about  Kioto 
than  about  Yedo.  I have  sketched  in  outline  the 
1 Japan  of  ages  rather  than  of  our  own  age.  While 
! political  history  is  the  chief  theme,  my  aim  has 
been  to  show  how  and  why  the  Ja'panese  see  and 
think  as  they  do.  The  adoption  of  Western 
civilization  changes  the  outer,  but  does  not  greatly 
modify  the  inner  man.  Believing  also  that  what 
the  dignified  historians  write  is  only  part  of  a 
people’s  true  history,  I have  sought,  from  their 
customs  and  folk-lore,  as  well  as  from  the  inter- 
pretation of  their  artists,  material  with  which  to 
brighten  the  narrative.  Fact  and  fiction,  however, 
are  presented  in  separate  chapters. 

No  writer  on  Japan  can  fail  to  acknowledge 
deep  obligations  to  that  noble  band  of  English 
students,  Messrs.  Satow,  Aston,  and  Chamberlain, 
who  have  made  such  profound  researches  into  the 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


ancient  Japanese  language  and  literature.  To 
them  and  to  Captain  Brinkley,  the  scholarly  editor 
of  the  “Japan  Mail,”  I heartily  acknowledge 
much  obligation.  To  my  many  Japanese  friends 
who  from  time  to  time  assist  me,  and  especially 
to  the  members  of  the  Historical  Society  of  the 
Imperial  University  of  Tokio,  who  have  honored 
me  by  membership  in  their  body,  I owe  much, 
and  herewith  offer  my  grateful  thanks. 

It  is  one  of  the  good  signs  of  the  times  that 
the  Japanese  are  now  studying  their  own  history 
according  to  the  methods  of  science,  with  truth  as 
the  end  in  view.  God  speed  them ! 

W.  E.  G. 

Boston,  Oct.  17, 1892. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  page 

I.  Where  is  Japan? 1 

II.  Who  are  the  Japanese? 8 

III.  The  Morning  of  Rising-Sun  Land  . . .15 

IV.  The  Japanese  Story  of  Creation  ...  26 

V.  Origin  of  the  Arts  . ^ . . . .32 

VI.  The  Conquest  of  the  East  ....  42 

VII.  Corea  and  Buddhism 52 

VIII.  How  THEY  LOOK  AT  THE  WoRLD  ...  60 

IX.  The  Mikado  and  his  Samurai  . . . .70 

X.  Letters,  Writing,  and  Names  ....  80 

XI.  The  Noble  Families  and  their  Politics  . . 92 

XII.  Social  Life  in  Kioto' 99 

XIII.  The  Wars  of  the  Genji  and  Heike  . . . 108 

XIV.  Yoritomo  at  Kamakura 117 

XV.  The  Death  of  Yoshitsune 124 

XVI.  The  Hojo  Rule 129 

XVII.  Benten  and  the  Dragons 137 

XVIII.  The  Ashikaga  Shoguns 145 

XIX.  Three  Fajvious  Men 154 

XX.  Ideas  and  Symbols 166 

XXI.  The  Ashes  that  made  Trees  bloom  . . . 175 

XXII.  Signs  and  Omens 183 

XXIII.  The  Dutch  Yeast  in  the  Japanese  Cake  . 192 

XXIV.  Interior  Forces  making  New  Japan  . . 203 

XXV.  Outward  Agencies 209 

XXVI.  New  Japan 221 

Index , . 229 


I 


JAPAN : IN  HISTORY,  FOLK-LORE, 
AND  ART. 


CHAPTER  I. 

WHEEE  IS  JAPAN? 

Where  is  Japan,  and  how  does  it  lie  on  the 
surface  of  the  globe? 

With  the  aid  of  the  steamship  and  railway,  we 
may  answer  by  saying  that  Fuji  Yama  is  about 
sixteen  days  from  New  York,  or  twelve  from  San 
Francisco.  Or,  from  the  other  point  of  view,  we 
may  say  that  Japan  lies  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  east 
of  China  and  Corea,  in  latitude  between  New- 
foundland and  the  West  Indies ; that  is,  the  Jap- 
anese climate  is  very  much  like  our  own. 

Japan  is  one  of  the  many  archipelagoes  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  The  number  of  islands  under  the 
sun-flag  is  nearly  four  thousand.  To  inclose  the 
space  within  the  ocean-square  thus  occupied,  we 
must  draw  our  lines  on  the  globe  from  the  point 
at  latitude  50°  56'.  Here  our  pin,  or  the  sur- 
veyor’s stake,  is  driven  in  at  the  most  northern 
end  of  a sMma^  for  that  is  the  Japanese  word  for 
island,  called  Araito.  This  land  formerly  be- 


9 


JAPAN 


longed  to  Russia.  It  is  in  the  old  chain  or  group 
called  the  Kuriles,  or  “ The  Smokers.”  Japan 
from  top  to  bottom  is  a line  of  volcanoes.  The 
hot  inside  of  the  earth  has  here  a row  of  vents  in 
the  shape  of  great  mountains  like  funnels  turned 
upside  down.  From  their  holes  at  the  top,  as  out 
of  tall  foundry  chimneys,  gas,  fire,  smoke  and 
ashes  escape  from  the  interior  of  the  earth. 

Did  you  ever  see  the  shell  of  an  avxibi^  as  the 
Japanese  call  the  haliotis,  or  sea-ear?  One  may 
compare  the  shape  and  nature  of  the  country  to 
the  awabi.  The  living  creature  beneath  the  per- 
forated shell  is  able  through  its  roof-holes  to  com- 
municate with  the  outside  world,  and  make  its 
presence  and  power  known  to  its  prey.  The  line 
of  apertures  reaches  along  the  top  from  the  apex 
to  the  bottom  level  of  the  shell.  So  all  Japan  is 
a great  shell  or  crust  of  rock  and  earth,  through 
which  the  steam,  gas,  fire,  and  lava  burst  forth  at 
times,  just  as  the  tentacles  of  the  awabi  leap  and 
twirl  through  its  shell.  When,  for  any  reason, 
one  or  more  of  these  vents  are  closed,  and  the 
volcanoes  become  dormant,  great  earthquakes 
which  twist  or  wrinkle  the  skin  of  the  globe,  or 
eruptions,  which  are  boiler-explosions  on  a vast 
scale,  are  sure  to  happen.  Even  the  rock  crust 
and  the  granite  caps  of  mountains,  unable  to  im- 
prison the  hot  subterranean  gases,  are  blown  high 
up  in  the  air. 

The  little  Greek  children  in  old  times  were 


WHERE  IS  JAPAN? 


3 


told  that  Jupiter  confined  the  giants  under  volca- 
noes, and  that  earthquakes  were  caused  by  their 
writhing,  but  the  Japanese  children  think  that  a 
great  underground  catfish  makes  the  mischief  in 
their  country,  and  that  no  one  can  stop  his  floun- 
dering but  the  god  Kashima. 

Since  the  Japanese,  in  1875,  exchanged  their 
half  of  Saghalin  for  all  the  Kuriles,  they  have 
I called  them  Chishima,  or  the  Thousand  Islands. 

I Araito,  the  northernmost  tip  of  the  Mikado’s 
' empire,  is  a little  to  the  west  of  Cape  Lopatka  in 
Kamtschatka.  To  mark  the  most  eastern  point 
of  Japan,  we  must  stick  a pin  on  the  map  at 
longitude  east  156°  32'.  The  Japanese  now  use 
our  system  of  latitude  and  longitude  for  survey- 
ing and  navigation.  They  are  thus  able  to  locate 
within  a few  yards  on  the  great  earth’s  surface 
the  position  of  a moving  ship  or  a thatched  cot- 
tage. Looking  through  the  lines  of  a spider’s 
web  stretched  across  the  end  of  a theodolite,  they 
can  measure  the  precise  distance  from  plumb-bob 
to  stake-centre,  and  fix  the  exact  spot  over  the 
centre  of  a copper  bolt  driven  in  the  rock.  This 
mark  of  the  national  frontier  is  in  the  island  of 
Shimushu  at  156°  32'. 

To  find  the  most  southerly  point  of  the  Mi- 
kado’s domain,  we  follow  the  meridian  down  to 
the  tiny  island  of  Haterma,  whose  tip  end  south  is 
at  24°  06'.  Close  to  it  the  island  of  Yonakuni 
pokes  its  rocky  nose  above  the  waves.  Here, 


4 


JAPAN 


also,  on  the  end  nearest  Formosa,  at  longitude 
east  122°  45',  is  Japan’s  most  western  extremity. 

So  Japan  lies  between  the  Kussian  territory  of 
Kamschatka  and  the  biggest  of  the  Chinese 
islands,  Formosa.  If  we  inclose  the  space  within 
the  four  points  we  have  described,  we  shall  have 
a quadrangle  of  over  four  million  square  miles ; 
or  a little  more,  in  water,  of  the  space  occupied 
by  the  land  comprising  the  United  States.  In 
this  ocean  surface,  however,  the  actual  territory 
covers  only  less  than  150,000  square  miles,  that 
is,  about  one  twenty-sixth  of  the  whole.  The 
land  is  to  the  water  as  one  letter  in  the  alphabet. 
Japan  and  the  two  Dakotas  are  about  the  same 
in  size,  say  150,000  square  miles. 

Or  we  may  say  the  Japanese  domain  looks 
like  a ruler  laid  slantwise  on  the  map  between 
Kamtschatka  and  Formosa.  In  this  long  and 
narrow  strip,  stretching  from  northwest  to  south- 
east between  the  Russian  and  Chinese  territory, 
the  space,  roughly  measured,  is  twenty-two  hun- 
dred miles  long  and  five  hundred  miles  wide,  and 
the  land  occupied  is  one  seventh  of  the  space. 

On  most  of  our’ school  maps  of  Asia,  the  Jap- 
anese Archipelago  is  represented  as,  relatively, 
about  the  size  of  a caterpillar  lying  on  the  pump- 
kin of  Asia.  Or,  if  Asia  be  a ship,  Japan  is  the 
rudder.  Indeed,  glancing  from  north  to  south, 
we  may  thus  make  an  appropriate  picture,  in  our 
mind’s  eye,  of  this  land  of  tea,  silkworms  and 


WHERE  IS  JAPAN  f 


5 


silk.  We  may  look  upon  the  rounded  coast  of 
China  as  a great  teapot,  with  its  spout  pointing 
towards  the  headless  butterfly  or  silk-moth  of 
Corea;  while  the  mainland  of  Japan  appears  as  a 
monstrous  silk-worm  with  its  head  at  Kiushki, 
spinning  out  of  its  mouth  a great,  glistening 
thread  of  islands  stretching  down  to  Formosa. 
Indeed,  while  the  literal  meaning  of  the  name 
Riu  Kiu  is  “sleeping  dragon,”  the  native  name  is 
Okinawa,  or  “long  rope.” 

In  the  geological  ages  of  the  world,  there  was 
I probably  an  extended  causeway  of  land  or  moun- 
tain ridge  from  Kamschatka  to  Formosa.  By 
the  action  of  the  ocean  waves,  continued  during 
long  ages,  this  ridge  has  been  broken  into  large 
and  small  islands.  Along  the  whole  eastern 
length  of  the  empire  there  rushes  like  a millrace 
a river  of  indigo  blue  in  the  sea.  This  is  the 
Kuro  Shiwo,  or  the  black  current,  which  flows 
from  the  Philippine  Islands  past  Japan  and  across 
to  North  America.  With  the  first  peopling  of 
Japan,  and  possibly  of  our  continent,  this  ocean- 
river  had,  as  we  shall  see,  something  to  do. 

Here,  then,  is  a country  stretching  between  the 
Tropic  of  Cancer  and  the  latitude  of  Labrador, 
with  most  of  its  people  crowded  in  the  parallels 
that  include  the  region  between  New  York  and 
Florida.  The  people  are  civilized,  polished  in 
manners,  with  writing,  arts,  literature,  a long  his- 
tory, and  a dynasty  or  line  of  emperors  older  than 


6 


JAPAN 


any  succession  of  rulers  on  earth,  unless  possibly 
that  of  the  popes.  They  have  a written  constitu- 
tion, representative  government,  and  the  modern 
appliances  of  war  and  peace,  with  steam  engines, 
electric  telegraphs,  printing  presses,  and  many 
other  modern  things.  They  now  look  into  a fu- 
ture which  they  expect  to  share  with  Europe  and 
America.  They  no  longer  turn  to  China  for 
ideas  and  principles.  Having  entered  the  brother- 
hood of  the  nations  of  Christendom,  the  Japanese 
is  the  most  promising  of  Asiatic  peoples. 

In  our  day  and  generation  Japan  has  shot  into 
notice  like  the  flowering  century-plant  among  the 
nations.  Within  the  memory  of  young  men  now 
living,  the  country  seemed  as  closed,  inactive,  re- 
pellant,  and  unpromising  as  the  fat  and  thorny- 
leaved  aloe,  that  quietly  stores  up  starch  within 
and  prickles  without.  Now,  having  burst  into 
splendid  bloom  and  captivating  color,  and  its  in- 
ner riches  revealed,  Japan  charms  the  world. 

We  have  answered  the  question.  Where  is  Ja- 
pan? in  the  terms  of  geography  and  astronomy. 
If  now  we  ask  the  Japanese  poets  the  same  ques- 
tion, they  will  reply  that  theirs  is  the  Country 
Between  Heaven  and  Earth,  the  Land  Where 
the  Day  Begins,  Sun-Rise  Kingdom,  House  of 
the  Morning,  Sun  Land,  Sun’s  Nest,  Country 
Within  the  Boundaries,  or  Kingdom  of  Peaceful 
Shores.  These  are  the  names  found  in  J apanese 
poetry  and  romance. 


WHERE  IS  JAPAN? 


1 


As  for  the  shape  of  it,  they  tell  us  it  is  the 
Country  of  the  Eight  Great  Islands,  the  Dragon- 
fly Kingdom,  the  Outspread  Islands  which  re- 
mind one  of  the  stepping  stones  in  a garden-path, 
the  Castellated  Fortress  Island,  Fertile  Plain  of 
Sweet  Flags,  the  Beautiful  or  the  Princess  Coun- 
try. Politically,  Japan  is  the  Mikado’s  Empire, 
or  the  Country  Ruled  by  a Dynasty  of  Heavenly 
Rulers. 


CHAPTER  II. 


WHO  ARE  THE  JAPANESE? 

When  the  imperial  census-takers  completed 
their  count  on  the  31st  of  December,  1890,  it  was 
found  that  there  were  40,072,000  people  in  Ja- 
pan. We  must  think  of  them,  the  Japanese,  as 
a nation  numbering  over  forty  millions. 

Three  fourths  of  the  inhabitants  live  on  Hondo, 
or  the  main  island.  Of  the  remainder,  five  mil- 
lions, or  over  one  eighth,  dwell  on  the  next  largest 
island,  called  Kiushiu,  or  The  Nine  Provinces.  In 
Shikoku,  the  Island  of  the  Four  Countries,  live 
about  three  millions.  The  northern  islands,  called 
the  Hokkaido,  or  Northern  Sea  Circuit,  are  not 
so  thickly  settled,  for  in  them  all  together  we  find 
only  a third  of  a million  of  souls. 

In  the  old  way  of  enumeration,  they  made  a 
rough  census  by  counting  houses,  or  smoke-holes 
in  the  roof,  reckoning  five  people  to  a house. 
Now,  and  since  1872,  they  count  noses,  and  souls. 
There  are  nearly  eight  million  houses,  and  they, 
like  the  people  who  live  in  them,  are  mostly 
thickly  massed  in  central  Japan.  Here,  where 
the  soil  is  fertile,  the  climate  good,  and  the  coun- 
try has  been  long  occupied,  we  find  towns  and 


WHO  ARE  THE  JAPANESE? 


9 


villages  as  close  to  each  other  as  beads  on  a 
rosary,  while  the  cities  are  large  and  numerous. 
In  Yezo,  however,  one  may  travel  many  leagues 
through  the  country  without  seeing  either  house 
or  man.  On  every  square  mile  of  central  Hondo 
there  are  four  hundred  and  sixteen  people,  but 
I in  the  islands  of  the  Northern  Sea  region  only 
seven.  The  average  for  all  Japan  is  two  hundred 
and  sixty-six,  which  makes  this  eastern  empire 
about  as  well  filled  with  people  as  Italy,  but  not 
so  thickly  populated  as  China  proper.  There  is, 
however,  plenty  of  room  in  Japan  for  more  peo- 
ple, since  the  ratio  of  inhabitants  to  the  square 
mile  is  nearly  one  half  that  of  Belgium  or  Sax- 
ony. 

Fifty  per  cent  of  the  population  are  farmers, 
and  live  in  villages  and  hamlets.  No  matter  how 
far  away  the  fields  which  they  cultivate  are  from 
their  homes,  the  countryfolk  dwell  in  houses 
which  are  grouped  together,  and  a farmhouse 
standing  by  itself  is  rarely  seen.  After  the  agri- 
cultural classes,  in  numbers,  come  the  trading 
people,  and  next  the  mechanics. 

The  people  are  divided  into  three  grades, — 
nobles,  gentry,  and  commons.  The  two  upper 
classes  comprise  two  millions,  while  the  common 
people  number  thirty-eight  millions.  All  subjects 
of  the  Emperor  have  equal  rights  before  the  law ; 
but  this  has  been  the  case  only  since  1889,  and 
under  the  new  constitution.  The  Eta  people,  who 


10 


JAPAN 


numbered  half  a million,  and  were  once  looked 
upon  as  outcasts,  and  not  better  than  beasts,  are 
now  citizens.  Even  the  Buddhists  did  not  admit 
the  Eta  to  religious  privileges  or  membership. 
One  honorable  exception  was  seen  in  the  Shin 
sect,  whose  priests  and  people,  to  their  everlasting 
honor,  treated  them  fairly. 

Up  in  the  north,  in  Yezo,  there  are  about  fif- 
teen thousand  aboriginal  people  called  Ainu,  who 
have  bushy  beards  and  hair  and  straight  eyes, 
like  Europeans. 

In  the  Riu  Kiu  islands,  in  the  extreme  south, 
the  people  are  a little  different  from  most  of  the 
Japanese,  and  the  language  they  speak  is  not  so 
correct  or  polished  as  that  of  the  people  on  the 
large  islands.  All  these  are  subjects  of  the  Mi- 
kado. Excepting  the  Ainu  speech,  there  are  not 
those  variations  in  the  language,  as  spoken  in  all 
the  four  thousand  islands  of  the  empire,  which 
are  found  in  China.  Properly  speaking,  there 
are  no  dialects. 

The  Japanese  are  quite  different  from  the  Co- 
reans  and  Chinese  in  stature  and  appearance.  A 
thousand  people  suddenly  gathered  at  random 
from  the  streets  of  Seoul  or  Peking,  and  a thou- 
sand gathered  in  London  and  New  York,  would 
probably  show  averages  of  stature  the  same.  The 
Japanese,  however,  are  not  so  tall  as  people  in 
America  and  Europe.  They  are  undersized  ; the 
average  height  of  the  men  is  5.5  feet,  and  that  of 


WHO  ARE  THE  JAPANESE? 


11 


the  women  4.5  feet;  but  among  the  mountaineers, 
boatmen,  and  occasionally  in  the  cities,  one  may 
see  a man  six  feet  or  over  in  height ; while  the 
wrestlers  are  gigantic  in  size  and  weight.  All 
varieties  of  fat  and  lean  people  are  noticeable. 
The  children  are  usually  plump  and  rosy-cheeked. 
The  boys  are  active,  and  the  young  girls  pretty. 

Some  one  has  called  the  Japanese  “the  dia- 
mond edition  of  humanity.” 

Unfortunately  for  the  Japanese,  he  is  not  pro- 
portionally developed,  yet  the  cause  of  his  short 
stature  may  be  removed.  The  upper  half  of  his 
body  is  of  proper  length,  but  the  lower  portion  is 
shorter  than  it  ought  to  be.  In  perfectly  formed 
human  beings  — and  indeed  in  the  average  — the 
measurements  up  and  down  from  the  centre  of 
the  body  are  the  same.  Not  so  with  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Dai  Nippon.  In  the  Japanese  army,  of 
twelve  hundred  men  measured  by  the  surgeons,  it 
was  found  that  there  was  a difference  of  over  an 
inch  between  the  upper  and  the  lower  parts  of 
the  body. 

The  doctors  say  that,  besides  improper  or  badly 
cooked  food,  the  chief  cause  of  shortness  in  the 
lower  limbs  is  the  custom  of  sitting  long  on  the 
knees  and  heels.  Until  recently,  chairs,  sofas, 
stools,  and  rockers  were  unknown  in  Japanese 
houses.  People  carried  their  sitting  apparatus 
with  them,  as  snails  are  said  to  travel  with  their 
houses  on  their  backs.  They  made  folding  chairs 


12 


JAPAN 


out  of  their  legs  by  using  their  hams  and  their 
heels,  tucking  their  feet  under  them.  Beginning- 
in  their  childhood,  they  were  able,  even  when 
grown  up,  to  sit  for  hours  in  this  position  without 
having  their  legs  go  to  sleep.  In  this  way,  and 
in  the  lapse  of  ages,  the  circulation  of  the  blood 
in  the  lower  limbs  becoming  more  or  less  stag- 
nant, the  legs  of  the  whole  nation  perceptibly 
shortened. 

The  Chinese  bind  the  feet  of  their  women  in 
order  to  make  them  as  small  as  the  hoofs  of  a 
gazelle.  The  Japanese  have  never  practiced  foot- 
binding ; yet  without  knowing  it  they  have  been 
shortening  their  legs,  and  subtracting  the  fraction 
of  a cubit  from  their  stature. 

When  foreign  people  go  into  the  houses  of  the 
Japanese  to  visit  them,  they  politely  try  to  sit 
down  on  their  knee-bones  and  ankles.  Pretty 
soon  they  have  to  give  it  up,  apologize,  and  then 
stretch  out  their  legs  ungracefully  on  the  matting. 
They  invariably  fall  asleep  at  the  wrong  end. 
While  their  heads  are  wide  awake,  their  feet  will 
not  wake  up.  Nowadays  the  people  put  some- 
thing between  themselves  and  the  floor.  The 
fashion  of  furnishing  the  house  with  chairs,  set- 
tees, and  high  tables  is  increasingly  common. 

In  thinking  of  Japan  and  the  Japanese,  one 
must  not  think  of  China  and  the  Chinese.  The 
two  countries  and  people  are  too  widely  different 
in  many  ways  to  be  compared.  China  is  ten 


WHO  ARE  THE  JAPAN ESEf 


13 


j times  larger  than  Japan,  and  her  area  greatly 
i exceeds  that  of  the  United  States  and  Alaska, 
I while  all  the  territory  of  Japan  is  not  very  much 
more  than  half  of  our  one  State  of  Texas.  The 
Chinese  empire  has  probably  ten  times  as  many 
i people  as  the  Japanese.  China  has  an  older  civi- 
lization and  has  been  more  original,  Japan  being 
for  centuries  the  pupil  of  the  Middle  Kingdom. 
The  tongues  of  the  two  nations  have  little  or  no 
i connection  with  each  other.  In  language,  cus- 
I toms,  government,  history,  character,  and  temper- 
I ament,  the  two  people  are  quite  as  different  as 
are  Russians  from  Englishmen. 

The  Japanese  do  not  smoke  opium,  do  not  bind 
the  feet  of  their  women,  nor  wear  queues  or  “ pig- 
tails.” They  seem  to  be  in  mind  half  way  be- 
tween European  and  Asiatic  people.  Perhaps 
their  greatest  work  and  most  brilliant  career  are 
yet  before  them.  The  Japanese  seem  called  upon 
to  reconcile  Eastern  and  Western  civilizations,  to 
interpret  to  Asia  the  meaning  of  European  ideas 
and  institutions.  Many  wise  men  think  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean  is  yet  to  become  the  arena  of  the 
greatest  triumphs  of  the  human  race,  as  the  Medi- 
terranean once  was,  as  the  Atlantic  is  now.  If 
so,  since  Japan  holds  the  key  of  the  Pacific,  her 
future  may  be  far  more  brilliant  than  the  past. 
Certainly  the  promise  to  the  Sun-land  is  that  of  a 
new  sunrise. 

The  Japanese  do  not  lack  in  reverence  for 


14 


JAPAN 


their  own  country.  To  them  it  is  the  Honorable 
Realm,  the  Land  of  the  Gods,  the  Country  of  the 
Holy  Spirits,  the  Kingdom  that  Endures  for  Aye, 
the  Everlasting  Great  Japan,  created  first  of  all, 
and  rising  out  of  the  waters  of  chaos ; they  call 
the  oldest  part  of  their  beautiful  land  the  Island 
of  the  Congealed  Drop.  Of  this  we  shall  read  in 
their  own  story  of  creation. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  MORNING  OF  RISING-SUN  LAND. 

Lying  out  in  the  ocean,  at  the  ends  of  the 
earth  from  Europe,  and,  in  the  day  of  small  boats, 
far  enough  from  China,  and  near  only  to  Corea, 
by  whom  was  the  land  we  call  Japan  first  discov- 
ered? 

Savages  who  have  no  letters,  and  therefore 
make  or  keep  no  written  history,  cannot  tell  their 
own  story,  or  remember  the  time  when  anything 
long  ago  happened.  Even  their  traditions  are 
usually  worthless  after  a few  generations.  They 
melt  away  like  dream  stuff  into  the  infinite  azure 
of  the  past. 

Who  were  the  aborigines,  or  the  people  who 
lived  before  history  was  written,  in  Japan?  Who 
came  first  of  all  into  the  lonely  islands  in  which 
no  baby  had  yet  cried  ? This  question  even 
scholars  cannot  now  answer. 

Most  probably  they  were  men  of  the  Malay 
race  who  drifted  up  from  the  south.  From  For- 
mosa, or  still  further  below  in  the  Philippines  or 
the  Malay  Archipelago,  there  is  the  swift,  dark- 
colored  river  flowing  in  the  ocean  called  the  Kuro 
Shiwo,  of  which  I have  already  spoken.  Even 


16 


JAPAN 


without  sails  or  oars,  but  by  simply  floating  in 
this  great  Gulf  Stream  of  the  Pacific,  men  could 
reach  southern  Japan.  Perhaps,  during  as  many 
centuries  as  the  present  world  counts  in  her  age, 
this  stream  has  been  gradually  peopling  Japan  as 
well  as  America.  Many  things  indicate  that  the 
Japanese  have  Malay  blood  in  their  veins.  Many 
of  their  ancient  customs,  their  tattooing,  their 
dances,  their  comedies  and  mask  entertainments, 
their  superstitions  and  methods  of  war,  their  an- 
cient head-hunting  raids,  point  to  a Malay  origin. 
Certainly  the  Japanese  are  a mixed  race. 

Another  strain  of  aboriginal  blood  flows  from 
the  Ainu,  who  once  inhabited  central  and  north- 
ern Japan.  Dark-skinned,  more  or  less  hairy 
in  their  bodies,  straight-eyed,  bush^^-h aired,  they 
were  hunters  and  fishermen.  Though  now  a mere 
remnant,  living  in  Yezo  as  mild  and  peaceable 
savages  and  bear-worshipers,  they  once  bravely 
resisted  the  Japanese,  who  by  degrees  conquered 
and  subdued  large  masses  of  them  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  empire.  In  time  they  have 
become  peaceable  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  good 
subjects  of  the  Mikado.  The  native  histories 
show  that  as  the  Japanese  waves  of  conquest 
pushed  farther  north,  just  as  the  white  man 
pushes  the  Indian  before  him,  the  free  Ainu  were 
raiding  savages.  They  plundered  the  civilized 
farmers  and  destro}"ed  their  houses  and  crops, 
only  to  be  conquered  and  reduced  to  quiet  obedi- 


THE  MORNING  OF  RISING-SUN  LAND  17 


ence  to  the  laws.  In  this  way,  all  the  Ainu  of 
Hondo  in  time  became,  by  mixture  of  blood  and 
the  arts  of  civilization,  true  Japanese. 

To  this  day  the  Ainu  names  of  the  lakes,  rivers, 
mountains,  and  great  landmarks,  from  the  Strait 
of  Tsugaru  down  to  Kioto,  linger  beneath  the 
later  Japanese  terms.  An  American  child  can 
read  all  over  the  United  States,  and  even  in  the 
I place  of  the  original  thirteen  colonies,  the  Indian 
j names  of  places  long  since  occupied  by  our  fathers. 
As  before  Boston  was  Shawmut,  and  before  the 
Hudson  River  was  Shatemuc,  and  behind  Salem 
was  Amoskeag,  so  under  the  pronunciation  of  the 
Chinese  characters  and  Japanese  names  we  find 
the  tell-tale  Ainu  word.  Before  ever  a man  with 
a hair-pen,  and  with  “India”  ink  rubbed  up  with 
water  on  a stone,  began  on  mulberry  or  bamboo 
paper  to  write  the  letters  spelling  Fuji  Yama,  the 
Ainu  had  named  it  the  Throne  of  Fire. 

The  Ainu  probably  came  into  the  Japanese 
islands  from  the  north,  where  the  mainland  and 
Saghalin  are  quite  near  each  other. 

Still  further  yet,  in  this  England  of  the  East, 
before  some  Asian  William  the  Conqueror  came 
over  from  the  Normandy  of  Corea,  were  still 
other  folks  than  Malay  and  Ainu.  Between  Co- 
rea and  Kiushiu,  there  are  islands  which  are  like 
stepping-stones  to  help  boatmen  from  sunset  to 
sunrise.  This  is  just  where  the  southern  points 
of  the  two  countries  bend  nearest  each  other.  On 


18 


JAPAN 


the  Sea  of  Japan,  as  we  go  further  north,  the 
coast  lines  of  the  two  kingdoms  become  concave 
and  get  farther  apart,  until,  near  the  southern 
point  of  Siberia,  they  again  approach.  The 
current,  which  on  the  ocean  side  sweeps  northward 
past  Japan,  flows  on  the  Asian  or  Corean  side 
southward.  This  would  make  easy  passage  for 
the  Highlanders,  or  seacoast  men  of  Manchuria, 
who  pointed  their  prows  southeastward  towards 
the  land  over  which  the  sun  rose  and  morning 
broke. 

So,  by  sailing  straight  toward  the  rising  sun, 
both  the  southern  Corean  and  the  northern  Tartar 
would  easily  reach  Japan.  Long  before  they  set 
foot  on  shore,  they  would  see  the  green  mountain 
wall  over  which  the  sun  rose.  No  wonder  they 
called  the  new  land  Nippon,  sun-root  or  sunrise ; 
more  fully,  Nihon  Koku,  or  Country  Over  Which 
the  Sun  Kises.  Yet  even  these  are  names  which 
began  to  be  used  only  after  Chinese  characters 
came  into  use  in  Japan.  Most  ancient  is  the 
pure  Japanese,  Hi-no-moto,  which  means  The 
Root  or  Source  of  the  Light,  or  The  Country 
where  the  Day  Begins.  No  realm  has  so  many 
names  as  the  Mikado’s,  or  names  more  beautiful ; 
but  the  oldest  of  all,  variously  pronounced,  points 
to  the  lips  of  a people  coming  from  the  west. 

These  Coreans  and  other  Asiatic  mainlanders 
settled  along  the  coast  of  Kiushiu  and  of  Hondo, 
at  Idzumo,  at  Wakasa,  and  in  the  land  bordering 


THE  MORNING  OF  RISING-SUN  LAND  19 

these  great  bights  in  the  coast,  near  Oki  Island 
and  at  Tsuruga  Bay.  Here  is  the  heart  of  the 
country,  and  the  key  of  Japan.  The  centre  and 
narrowest  part  of  the  main  island  is  along  the 
coast  of  Wakasa.  It  is  a place  in  Japanese  his- 
tory like  the  “ Saxon  Shore  ” in  Great  Britain. 
As  on  the  sand  of  the  English  strand  so  often 
gritted  the  keels  of  the  Angles  and  Saxons,  so 
here  the  Asiatic  men  from  the  west  beached  their 
boats. 

Then  began  the  delights  of  hunting  and  war  in 
their  new  home,  until  they  were  well  scattered 
throughout  the  area  of  the  islands.  Probably  in 
their  numbers,  influence,  methods,  and  results  of 
conquest,  they  were  much  like  the  Saxons.  While 
many  of  the  aborigines  of  Malay  and  Ainu  blood 
were  slaughtered,  the  majority  were  spared,  and 
large  intermixture  by  marriage  took  place.  Lan- 
guage and  customs  were  modified,  and  became 
more  uniform.  Probably  until  near  the  time  of 
the  Christian  era,  the  people  were  almost  entirely 
hunters  and  fishermen,  and  tribal  wars  rather  than 
peace  were  the  rule.  This  was  the  stone  age  of 
Japan  ; and  its  relics  in  the  form  of  arrow  heads, 
and  rude  tools  and  patterns,  and  shell  heaps,  can 
be  found  as  often  and  as  easily  as  in  America. 

Now,  among  these  piratical  or  colonizing  expe- 
ditions, which  at  various  times  came  from  the 
Asian  mainland,  was  one  of  special  interest  to  us. 
For  this  we  must  look  much  further  to  the  south. 


20 


JAPAN 


Across  the  bay  from  the  province  of  Satsnma,  in 
which  the  pretty  crackled  and  decorated  pottery 
is  made,  is  the  province  of  Oznmi.  Here,  prob- 
ably, one  set  of  invaders  landed  and  grew  to  be  a 
powerful  tribe.  After  several  generations  and 
many  victories,  these  brave  people  began  to  ex- 
pand their  domain.  Starting  out  to  conquer  all 
Kiushiu  they  succeeded,  and  then,  reaching  the 
region  of  Osaka  by  boat,  they  established  them- 
selves in  the  centre  of  Hondo.  The  province  now 
called  Yamato  became  their  seat  of  government. 
They  rapidly  reduced  the  surrounding  tribes  to 
submission,  and,  before  many  generations  had 
passed,  the  centre  and  southwest  of  the  archi- 
pelago was  under  their  nominal  control. 

The  men  of  this  clan  or  house  of  Yamato 
were  not  only  very  brave  and  capable,  but  they 
were  better  disciplined,  and  had  superior  war 
material  and  resources.  It  is  probable,  also,  that 
their  weapons  were  of  iron,  while  those  of  their 
enemies  were  of  copper,  bone,  and  shell.  The 
Yamato  men  cultivated  the  soil,  and  could  thus 
lay  up  large  food  supplies,  while  the  men  they 
conquered  depended  wholly  upon  hunting  and 
fishing. 

We  now  know  another  secret  of  the  success  of 
the  Yamato  men.  It  lay  in  the  superiority  of 
their  religion,  or  possibly  their  craft  in  the  poli- 
tical use  they  made  of  it.  It  is  not  likely  that 
they  possessed  writing,  but  they  had  a liturgy 


THE  MORNING  OF  RISING-SUN  LAND  21 


or  ritual.  They  worshiped  their  ancestors,  and 
made  gods  of  their  most  famous  or  useful  men 
when  deceased.  The  man  who  made  farmino: 
more  successful,  the  earth  more  fertile,  or  who 
introduced  a new  article  of  food  ; or  the  one  who 
skilfully  healed  diseases  or  averted  a pestilence ; 
who  invented  pottery,  or  a more  effective  tool 
or  weapon,  or  a new  utensil  or  decoration,  — was 
honored  during  life,  and  after  death  was  wor- 
shiped. To  their  chief  they  paid  something  like 
divine  honors  even  when  living.  His  house  was 
a temple,  or  sacred  dwelling  place,  which  they 
called  a Miya,  and  its  occupant  Mikado,  or  Aw- 
ful Habitation.  Possibly,  however,  the  word  “ Mi- 
kado” means  Honorable  Gate,  for  in  Japan  the 
gate  is  often  nearly  as  magnificent  as  the  house. 
In  this,  these  primitive  Japanese  were  like  their 
Tartar  relatives,  the  Turks,  who  call  their  gov- 
ernment, after  the  palace  entrance,  the  Sublime 
Porte.  So,  also,  the  Egyptians  spoke  of  their 
ruler  as  Pharaoh,  which  probably  conveys  the 
same  idea.  We  all  know  that  the  Iroquois  In- 
dians were  Men  of  the  Long  House. 

These  Yamato  men  employed  religion  as  a help 
to  complete  conquest.  They  captured,  as  we  may 
say,  the  beliefs  of  the  islanders,  whom  they  con- 
quered, by  coupling  on  to  the  aboriginal  cult 
their  own  theory  as  to  the  origin  of  themselves, 
their  ancestors,  their  chiefs,  and  the  Mikado. 
Like  a locomotive  that  draws  after  it  a long  train 


22 


JAPAN 


of-  freight  cars,  so  the  Kami  or  Mikado  religion 
drew  to  and  after  it  all  else  in  the  country. 

Thus,  making  an  engine  of  their  doctrine  for 
crushing  their  enemies  and  riveting  their  chains, 
they  taught  that  they  were  descended  from  the, 
heavenly  gods,  and  that  their  ancestors  had  ori- 
ginally come  down  from  heaven.  Their  Mikado 
being  a son  and  representative  of  the  celestial 
deities,  all  men  must  obey  this  Son  of  Heaven, 
or  suffer  death.  The  subdued  people  were  taught 
that  their  ancestors  were  only  earth-born  kami  or 
gods.  The  earthly  gods  must  obey  the  heavenly, 
and  their  children  be  loyal  to  the  Mikado.  Both 
by  their  fierce  soldiers  and  by  their  teachers  and 
priests,  by  better  weapons  and  fighting  and  supe- 
rior dogmas,  the  Yamato  tribe  became  the  chief 
of  all  Japan.  To  this  day,  the  people  call  their 
emperor  Tenshi,  or  Tenno,  which  means  Heavenly 
Son  or  King. 

The  Mikado  and  millions  of  Japanese  still 
worship  their  ancestors,  and  believe  the  ancient 
mythology.  In  the  proclamation  granting  the 
constitution  and  houses  of  Parliament,  June  11, 
1889,  the  Mikado,  after  first,  in  the  sacred  shrine 
in  the  palace,  worshiping  the  spirits  of  his  Ya- 
mato ancestors,  said : — 

“ We,  the  successor  to  the  prosperous  throne  of 
our  predecessors,  do  humbly  and  solemnly  swear 
to  the  Imperial  Founder  of  our  House,  and  to 
our  other  Imperial  ancestors,  that,  in  pursuance 


THE  MORNING  OF  RISING-SUN  LAND  23 


of  a great  policy  coextensive  with  the  heavens 
and  with  the  earth,  we  shall  maintain  and  secure 
1 from  decline  the  ancient  form  of  government. 

“ We  now  reverently  make  our  prayer  to  them 
and  to  our  Illustrious  Father,  and  implore  the 
I help  of  their  sacred  spirits,  and  make  to  them 
solemn  oath  never,  at  this  time  or  in  the  future, 
to  fail  to  be  an  example  to  our  subjects  in  the 
observance  of  the  law  hereby  established. 

“ May  the  Heavenly  Spirits  witness  this  our 
solemn  oath ! ” 

Even  the  political  party  in  opposition  to  the 
government,  called  the  Kai-shin-to,  in  the  spring 
of  1892,  while  urging  more  liberal  measures 
looking  towards  democracy,  thus  made  profession 
of  the  religion  of  loyalty  to  the  emperor : — 

“ W e firmly  believe  that  these  deeds  [the  re- 
forms since  1868,  and  introduction  of  many  fea- 
tures of  Western  civilization,  most  of  them  the 
direct  outgrowth  of  Christianity]  were  accom- 
plished by  the  spirits  of  the  departed  emperors, 
and  by  virtue  of  the  reigning  sovereign.” 

The  seat  of  power  of  a country  is  called  the 
capital,  but  in  Japan  the  miako  or  kio  ; a word 
we  see  in  Kioto  the  old,  and  Tokio  the  present 
capital.  In  the  early  days,  however,  when  super- 
stitious fears  made  people  dislike  to  live  in  a 
house  in  which  a person  had  died,  the  Court,  or 
Mikado’s  residence,  was  often  changed.  It  was 
easy  to  put  up  new  houses  when  these  consisted 


24 


JAPAN 


of  wood,  without  nails  or  paint,  thatched  with 
straw,  and  tied  together  with  creeper-vines.  So 
each  new  Mikado  made  for  himself  a new  capital. 
The  region  called  the  Gokinai,  or  five  home  prov- 
inces, is  the  old  homestead  of  the  Japanese  nation. 
This  region  is  full  of  places  once  called  capitals. 
Now  the  sites  are  only  hamlets.  In  some  cases, 
like  those  of  the  great  Iroquois  Indian  towns  of 
the  Mohawk  valley,  they  are  only  names.  Japan 
has  had  in  all  nearly  sixty  capitals. 

Nara  was  the  first  to  keep  unchanged  during 
the  reigns  of  no  fewer  than  eight  imperial  rulers. 
Possibly  the  fact  that  four  of  these  were  women 
had  something  to  do  with  such  permanence,  which 
was  then  a novelty.  More  probably,  the  civiliza- 
tion then  being  imported  from  Corea  and  China 
influenced  the  new  policy  making  settled  life 
seem  more  civilized  and  respectable.  After  Nara 
had  served  as  the  capital  from  A.  D.  709  to  784, 
ten  years  of  wandering  followed,  and  then  Kioto 
was  chosen.  From  794  until  1868,  the  Mikados 
resided  in  this  city;  then  Yedo  was  chosen  the  kio, 
and  named  Tokio  or  Eastern  Capital.  Only  in  j 
our  day  have  the  wonderful  art  treasuries  of  Nara  I 
been  opened,  and  their  contents  been  studied. 

One  hundred  and  twenty-three  Mikados  have 
sat  on  the  throne  of  Japan,  but  those  who  reigned 
before  the  days  of  almanacs,  clocks,  and  written 
records,  were  not  like  the  ordinary  kings  or  people 
of  history.  These  prehistoric  Sons  of  Heaven 


THE  MORNING  OF  RISING-SUN  LAND  25 


were  seventeen  in  number.  They  usually  lived 
to  extraordinary  ages.  All  except  four  died  at 
ages  varying  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  forty- three  years.  As  some  of  those  most 
early  in  the  line  were  born  of  dragons  or  sea- 
monsters,  and  behaved  just  as  people  do  in  fairy 
tales,  it  is  probable  that  their  ages,  their  reigns, 
and  their  personalities  are  uncertain.  We  can 
be  pretty  sure  that  the  idea  of  giving  to  each 
reign  of  the  seventeen  Mikados  an  exact  date 
and  length  occurred  to  the  imperial  scribes  and 
almanac-makers  about  a thousand  years  after  the 
first  Mikado  is  said  to  have  ascended  the  throne. 
The  date  of  the  beginning  of  the  (Japanese  em- 
pire, that  is,  660  b.  c.,  was  not  officially  fixed 
until  1872,  when  the  Chinese  system  of  counting 
time  was  discarded  for  that  in  use  in  Europe, 
The  thousand  years  or  so  before  the  eighteenth 
Mikado  have  little  value  as  history. 

Thus  far  we  have  looked  at  the  story  of  the 
peopling  of  Japan  and  the  rise  of  the  Mikados 
as  a cold-blooded  foreigner  may.  We  have  told 
it  in  prose,  but  not  so  do  the  Japanese  look  at 
it.  To  them  it  is  all  poetry,  lovelier  than  a fairy 
tale ; while,  until  recently,  to  most  of  the  common 
people,  it  was  their  religion.  Let  us  now  hear 
the  pretty  tale  as  the  oldest  books,  written  over 
a thousand  years  ago,  tell  it,  and  as  it  appears 
in  poem,  picture,  bronze,  ivory  carving,  and  the 
whole  wonderful  art  of  Japan. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  JAPANESE  STORY  OF  CREATION. 

In  the  beginning,  heaven  and  earth  were  not 
yet  separated.  Chaos,  enveloping  all  things  like 
an  egg,  contained  a germ.  The  clear,  airy  sub- 
stance expanded  and  became  heaven,  the  heavy 
and  thick  part  coagulated  and  became  the  earth. 
Then  the  young  land  floated  in  the  water  like  oil, 
and  drifted  about  like  a jelly-fish.  Out  of  this 
warm  earth  sprouted  a bush-like  object,  from 
which  w^ere  born  two  deities,  Pleasant-Reed-Shoot- 
Prince-Elder-God,  and  The  Deity-Standing-Eter- 
nally-in- Heaven.  After  these  heavenly  deities 
seven  generations  of  gods  were  born.  Their 
names  are  The  Deity-Standing-Eternally-on-Earth, 
Luxuriant-Thick-Mud-Master,  Mud-Earth- Lord, 
Mud-Earth-Lady,  and  others  with  very  long 
names,  usually  ending  in  the  w^ord  rnikoto^  w^hich 
we  translate  “ augustness.” 

These  kami  or  gods,  though  in  pairs  called  a 
generation,  were  each  single  and  had  no  sex ; but 
the  last  two  of  the  series  were  Izanagi  and 
Izanami,  and  their  names  mean  The-Male-Who- 
Invites,  and  The-Female-Who-Invites. 

After  these  seven  divine  generations  had  come 


JAPANESE  STORY  OF  CREATION 


27 


into  existence,  all  the  heavenly  gods,  granting  to 
Izanagi  and  Izanami  a heavenly  jeweled  spear, 
commanded  the  pair  to  make,  consolidate,  and 
give  life  to  the  drifting  land.  The  two  gods 
stood  on  the  Floating  Bridge  of  Heaven,  and 
Izanagi  pushed  down  the  jeweled  spear  and 
stirred  the  soft  warm  mud  and  salt  water.  • When 
the  spear  was  drawn  up,  the  drops  that  fell  from 
it  thickened  and  formed  the  Island  of  the  Con- 
gealed Drop.  In  common  geography,  this  island 
is  Awaji,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Inland  Sea. 
Upon  this  the  two  gods  descended,  and,  planting 
the  jeweled  spear  in  the  ground,  they  made  it  the 
central  pillar  of  a palace.  They  then  separated 
to  walk  round  the  island ; when  they  met,  Iza- 
nami, the  female  god,  cried  out,  — 

“ How  lovely  to  meet  a handsome  male  I ” 
Izanagi  was  offended  that  the  female  had  spoken 
first,  and  demanded  that  the  tour  round  the  island 
be  repeated.  Meeting  the  second  time,  Izanagi, 
the  male  god,  spoke  first  and  cried  out,  — 

“ How  joyful  to  meet  a lovely  female  ! ” 

Thus  began  the  art  of  love. 

Then  followed  the  creation  of  the  various  islands 
of  Japan,  and  all  the  gods  who  live  on  the  earth 
and  are  called  the  earthly  deities.  These  earthly 
gods  married  among  each  other,  and  from  them 
were  born  many  good  things,  such  as  rice,  wheat, 
millet,  beans,  sorghum,  and  other  articles  of  food. 
Gradually  the  earth  was  filled  with  trees  and 


28 


JAPAN 


plants  and  beautiful  objects,  as  gems  and  shells 
and  waves. 

Down  below  the  earth  was  the  Land  of  Roots, 
or  Home  of  Darkness.  Izanami,  when  offended 
at  her  husband,  fled  into  this  place,  and  died  in 
giving  birth  to  the  god  of  fire.  Izanagi  had  to 
go  after  her  to  win  her  back.  He  found  it  a 
region  of  awful  foulness,  and  his  wife  a mass  of 
worms.  Rushing  out,  he  washed  himself  in  the 
sea,  and  from  the  rinsings  were  born  a great 
many  evil  gods.  These  trouble  the  good  gods, 
and  vex  and  annoy  mankind.  But  out  of  his  left 
eye  was  born  a beautiful  maiden  whose  body 
shone  brilliantly. 

At  this  time  the  heaven  and  earth  were  close 
together,  united  by  a pillar.  Going  up  this  pillar 
into  heaven,  Izanagi’s  beautiful  daughter  became 
the  sun,  or  the  Heaven  - illuminating  Goddess. 
Izanagi’s  son  became  the  moon,  and  was  com- 
manded to  rule  the  blue  plain  of  the  sea  and 
multitudinous  salt  waters.  The  names  of  these 
two  are  Amaterasii  and  Susanoo. 

As  the  earthly  gods  and  evil  deities  multiplied, 
and  confusion  reigned  on  the  earth,  the  Sun 
Goddess,  or  Heaven-illuminator,  resolved  to  send 
her  grandson  Ninigi  down  to  the  earth  to  rule 
over  it.  She  gave  him  three  precious  treasures,  — 
a mirror,  the  emblem  of  her  own  soul ; a sword  of 
divine  temper,  which  her  brother  had  taken  from 
the  tail  of  an  eight-headed  dragon  which  he  had 
slain  ; and  a ball  of  crystal  without  a flaw. 


JAPANESE  STORY  OF  CREATION  29 

Great  was  the  day  when  a mighty  company 
of  gods  escorting  Ninigi  marched  down  out  of 
heaven,  and,  on  the  Floating  Bridge  of  Heaven  by 
which  the  two  heavenly  gods  had  first  descended, 
came  down  to  the  earth.  Beaching  the  top  of 
the  great  mountain  Kirishima,  which  lies  between 
Satsuma  and  Hiuga,  they  descended  into  the  wild 
regions  of  Japan. 

Ninigi  began  at  once  to  reduce  the  earthly 
gods  in  order,  and  maintain  good  government. 
Heaven  and  earth  now  grew  wider  and  wider 
apart,  and  at  last  separated,  so  that  communicar 
tion  was  no  longer  possible. 

The  sons  of  Ninigi  were  named  Princes  Fire 
Fade  and  Fire  Glow.  While  fishing,  they  had 
a quarrel,  and  Prince  Fire  Fade  went  down  be- 
neath the  sparkling  ocean  waves  to  Bin  Gu,  the 
palace  of  the  Dragon  King  of  the  World  under 
the  Sea ; there  he  married  the  King’s  daughter, 
the  Jewel  Princess.  After  a time  spent  in  the 
under-sea  world,  the  Dragon  King,  or  Ocean- 
possessor,  sent  Prince  Fire  Fade  back  to  earth  on 
the  back  of  a crocodile,  armed  with  the  jewels  of 
the  ebbing  and  flowing  tides.  With  these  he  was 
able  to  cause  or  to  quell  a flood  of  waters.  He 
raised  one  that  threatened  to  drown  the  whole 
world,  and  then  his  brother  Prince  Fire  Glow  be- 
haved himself.  Prince  Fire  Glow  begged  pardon 
and  became  the  servant  of  his  brother  who  pos- 
sessed the  wonderful  tide  jewels. 


30 


JAPAN 


Prince  Fire  Fade  now  built  a hut  on  the  sea^ 
shore,  and  roofed  it  with  cormorant  wings.  Here 
was  born  the  child  that  became  Jimmu  Tenno, 
the  great-grandson  of  the  Sun  Goddess,  and  the 
first  Mikado  of  Japan.  Prince  Fire  Fade,  filled 
with  curiosity,  ventured  to  peep  into  the  hut 
roofed  with  cormorant  wings.  There  he  saw  only 
a crocodile  eight  fathoms  long,  which  crawled  into 
the  sea,  and  plunged  down  to  the  Dragon  King’s 
palace  far  below. 

The  child  thus  born  of  a sea  monster  grew  up 
to  be  a great  warrior,  and  after  many  years’ 
conquest  made  himself  master  of  the  island  now 
called  Kiushiu.  One  day,  on  coming  to  the  edge 
of  the  sea,  he  saw  a tiny  little  earth-god  riding 
towards  him  in  the  shell  of  a tortoise,  raising  his 
wings  as  he  came.  Knowing  the  sea-path,  he  be- 
came Jimmu’s  guide  to  Naniwa,  near  the  place 
now  called  Osaka.  On  landing  with  his  army 
and  fighting  the  enemy,  the  brother  of  Jimmu 
was  mortally  wounded  in  the  hand  by  an  arrow. 

Ascribing  this  calamity  to  the  fact  that  they 
had  marched  against  or  in  the  face  of  the  sun, 
they  turned  and  made  their  way  round  the  south 
ern  side,  with  their  back  to  the  sun.  Meanwhile 
the  heavenly  gods  came  to  Jimmu’s  aid,  and 
dropped  a sword  of  divine  temper  through  the 
roof  of  a storehouse  owned  by  a native  of  the 
region.  He  brought  and  presented  it  to  Jimmu. 
Before  this  sword  the  enemy  fell  down.  The 


JAPANESE  STORY  OF  CREATION  31 

heavenly  gods  also  sent  a crow  eight  feet  long  to 
guide  the  army.  Many  earthly  gods,  ancestors 
of  tribes,  now  submitted  themselves  to  Jimmu. 
At  a great  cave  eighty  earth-spiders  were  hiding, 
which  he  attacked  and  killed.  So,  having  thus 
subdued  the  savage  deities,  and  extirpated  the 
rebellious  people,  Jimmu  built  a palace  at  Kashi- 
wabara,  the  oak  moor  in  Yaraato.  There  he 
married  the  princess  Ahira.  Jimmu  died  when 
one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  years  old. 

Thus  began  the  dynasty  of  the  emperors  of 
Everlasting  Great  Japan,  “unbroken  from  ages 
eternal.” 


CHAPTER  V. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  ARTS. 

There  is  no  greater  favorite  with  artists, 
dancers,  musicians,  and  the  people  generally  than 
the  story  of  the  laughing  goddess  Uzume.  She 
it  was  who  by  her  funny  tricks  enticed  the  Sun 
Goddess  out  of  the  cave.  While  in  her  hiding- 
place,  all  faces  were  black  with  gloom,  and  every- 
thing was  plunged  in  darkness.  When  Uzume 
drew  her  out,  everybody  and  all  the  world  was 
omo-shiroi^  “ white-faced.” 

Susanob,  the  ruler  of  the  moon,  is  also  called, 
in  the  sacred  books,  His-Swift-Impetuous-Male- 
Augustness.  He  was  a very  mischievous  fellow. 
His  sister  was  the  lovely  Sun  Goddess.  She  is 
also  called  the  Heaven-Shining-Great- August- 
Deity.  Wishing  to  beautify  the  land,  she  had 
made  rice-fields,  caused  irrigation  ditches  to  be 
dug,  and  a palace  to  be  built.  Her  naughty 
brother  Susanob  broke  down  the  earth  walls 
between  the  rice-fields,  filled  up  the  ditches,  and 
threw  mud  in  the  palace  where  the  Sun  Goddess 
ate  her  food.  His  sweet-tempered  sister  excused 
and  apologized  for  him,  but  he  kejit  on  playing 
his  vicious  pranks.  One  day  he  caught  a spotted 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  ARTS 


33 


horse  and  skinned  it  alive.  He  then  climbed  up 
the  roof  of  the  house  in  which  the  Sun  Goddess 
and  her  maidens  were  weaving  garments  for  the 
gods.  Breaking  a hole  through  the  thatch,  he  let 
the  reeking  carcase  of  the  animal  fall  down  over 
the  looms  among  the  weaving-women,  who  were 
dreadfully  frightened  and  injured.  The  Sun 
Goddess  hurt  herself  with  the  shuttle,  and  was 
so  terrified  at  the  sight  that  she  ran  into  a cave 
and  hid  herself.  She  fastened  the  rocky  door  so 
tightly  that  all  heaven  and  earth  at  once  became 
dark  as  night.  At  this,  the  wicked  gods  began 
to  behave  very  uncivilly,  and  buzz  like  flies  in 
the  month  of  June.  Besides  this,  there  were  ten 
thousand  dreadful  signs  of  coming  woe. 

Then  the  eight  hundred  thousands  of  gods 
assembled  together  in  the  dry  bed  of  the  River  of 
Heaven.  There  they  took  counsel,  and  summoned 
the  god  named  Thought-includer  to  help  them. 
This  wise  god,  who  included  in  his  single  mind 
the  cogitations  and  contrivances  of  many  heads, 
they  ordered  to  think  out  a plan  to  entice  the  Sun 
Goddess  from  her  cave.  Thereupon  he  brought 
together  those  long-singing  birds  of  perpetual 
night  which  we  call  cocks,  and  bade  them  sing, 
that  is,  to  crow.  Taking  hard  stones  to  make 
a forge,  harder  rock  for  an  anvil,  and  iron  out 
of  the  heavenly  metal-mountains,  he  called  the 
heavenly  blacksmiths  and  set  them  to  work.  He 
ordered  a mirror  to  be  made.  One  god  was 


34 


JAPAN 


charged  with  the  making  of  a string  of  five 
hundred  curved  jewels,  eight  feet  long.  Two 
other  gods  of  long  name  were  ordered  to  pull  out 
the  shoulder  blade  of  a stag  from  Mount  Kagu. 
Heating  the  bone  in  a fire  of  cherry  bark,  they 
were  to  watch  the  cracks,  and  to  draw  omens. 
A sakahi-tvQQ  with  branches  was  pulled  up  by 
the  roots  to  serve  as  a wand  for  the  laughing 
goddess  Uzume.  On  the  upper  branches  were 
festooned  . the  curved  jewels.  On  the  middle 
branches  was  hung  the  great  star-shaped  or  eight- 
pointed  mirror.  On  the  lower  branches  were 
suspended  the  white  and  blue  peace  offerings  of 
cloth  and  hemp.  His  Augustness-Grand- Jewel 
held  these,  while  His  Augustness-Heavenly-Beck- 
oning-Ancestor-Lord  offered  prayers  and  recited 
the  ritual.  The  Heavenly-Hand-Strength-Male- 
Deity  stood  hiding  near  the  rock  door,  ready  to 
pull  it  open  whenever  the  Sun  Goddess  should 
peep  out. 

Uzume,  the  laughing  goddess,  who  is  also  called 
Her  Augustness-Flaming-Female,  made  a sash  of 
club  moss  to  hang:  round  her.  Her  head-dress 

C5 

was  a heavenly  spindle-tree. 

Binding  the  leaves  of  the  bamboo  grass  into 
a bouquet,  and  thus  arrayed,  she  stood  on  an 
inverted  tub  or  trough.  This,  as  she  danced, 
resounded  like  a sounding-board.  Loosening  her 
clothes,  and  acting  in  the  funniest  way,  as  if 
possessed,  even  the  gods  could  not  keep  their 


OBIGIN  OF  THE  ARTS  35 

faces  straight.  They  all  burst  out  into  roars  of 
laughter,  and  the  high  plain  of  Heaven  shook. 

All  this  so  amazed  the  Sun  Goddess  in  the 
cave  that  she  could  not  restrain  her  curiosity. 
Opening  slightly  the  rocky  door  of  the  cave, 
she  peeped  out  to  see  what  was  going  on,  and 
to  ask  what  all  the  gods  were  laughing  at.  Then 
Uzume  cried  out:  “We  rejoice  and  are  merry 
because  there  is  a deity  more  illustrious  than 
thine  augustness.”  While  she  was  saying  this, 
two  of  the  gods  pushed  forward  the  great  mirror. 
When  the  lovely  daughter  of  Heaven  saw  herself 
for  the  first  time,  astonished  at  beholding  so 
beautiful  a face  and  form  in  it,  she  gradually 
came  further  out  of  the  cave.  Then  the  Heavenly- 
Hand-Strength-Male-Deity,  who  was  hiding  in  the 
shadow,  took  hold  of  her  hand,  and  the  Grand- 
Jewel  God  drew  a rice-straw  rope  along  behind 
her  back.  At  once  all  the  heavens  and  earth 
were  full  of  light  once  more  and  gladness  reigned. 
Susanob,  the  brother,  was  punished  by  being 
driven  into  exile. 

Now  all  this  pretty  story  shows  that  the  gods 
who  are  described  in  the  Kojiki  were  genuine 
Japanese  and  lived  in  Japan.  The  River  of 
Heaven  is  exactly  like  those  rivers  in  Japan 
which  have  a dry,  pebbly  bed,  splendidly  suited 
for  picnics  and  dances,  except  during  times  of 
flood.  Susanob  is  the  small  boy  who  teases  his 
pretty  sister  to-day,  as  he  teased  her  a thousand 


86 


JAPAN 


years  ago.  Amaterasu,  or  the  Sun  Goddess,  is 
one  of  those  lovely,  modest  Japanese  girls  who 
are  so  charming,  industrious,  and  beautiful  at 
the  age  of  sweet  fifteen.  Even  the  gods  of  the 
Kojiki  are  exactly  like  the  folks  we  know  who 
live  under  the  bamboo  and  camphor  trees.  Many 
an  Uzume  still  giggles,  simpers,  and  dances, 
and  many  a strong-handed  fellow  still  tries  his 
strength ; while  all  the  cunning  craftsmen  in  the 
various  trades  love  to  see,  in  the  founder  of  their 
particular  business,  one  of  the  gods  who  enticed 
the  Sun  Goddess  out  of  the  cave. 

It  may  be,  also,  that  this  pretty  story  of  the  mis- 
deeds of  the  Moon  God  and  of  the  Sun  Goddess 
points  to  astronomy.  One  Japanese  author  says 
it  is  only  a poetical  way  of  describing  an  eclipse 
of  the  sun.  The  wicked  gods  who  buzzed  like 
flies  are  the  rebellious  aborigines  not  yet  so  fully 
subdued.  They  always  liked  to  make  trouble 
with  the  Mikado’s  officers.  The  crowd  of  deities 
who  assembled  in  a great  host  are  the  conquerors 
of  the  country,  the  gods  with  specially  honorable 
names  being  the  chiefs  and  leaders.  The  clever 
men  and  inventors  called  on  to  show  their  skill 
were  the  first  mechanics,  inventors,  and  engineers. 
Uzume,  who  showed  her  powers  of  amusement,  is 
the  patron  of  comedy. 

When  the  story  is  told  in  all  its  particulars,  we 
see  that  it  explains  many  things  in  a poetical 
way.  It  shows  why  the  sun  is  feminine  and  is 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  ARTS 


87 


spoken  of  as  a lady,  while  the  moon,  instead  of 
“ that  orbed  maiden,  with  white  fire  laden,”  is  a 
rascally  male  fellow.  It  pictures  the  first  inven- 
tion of  weaving  and  clothes,  iron-working  with 
bellows  made  of  the  skin  of  a deer,  and  anvil  of 
bare  rock.  Two  gods,  the  first  carpenters,  dug 
holes  in  the  ground  with  spades,  erected  posts, 
and  built  a palace.  Other  gods  made  a necklace 
of  the  curved  jewels,  or  magatama,  out  of  car- 
nelian  or  soapstone.  They  added  hairpins  and 
bracelets,  with  head-dress  of  gold  and  silver,  and 
thus  became  the  first  jewelers.  The  mirror  was  a 
great  work  of  art.  During  Uzume’s  performances 
on  the  drum-like  box,  she  blew  a bamboo  tube 
with  holes  pierced  in  it.  The  other  deities  kept 
time  by  clapping  together  pieces  of  hard  wood, 
thus  making  music  in  orchestra.  Another  deity 
took  six  archers’  bows,  and,  laying  them  together, 
strung  them  with  cords  made  of  hanging  moss, 
and  so  the  koto^  or  Japanese  harp  or  piano,  was 
invented.  Fifes,  drums, \ cymbals,  and  harps  were 
thus  used  together,  besides  the  tinkling  bells 
which  Uzume  held  in  her  hand.  As  Uzume 
danced  she  sang  a stanza,  and  thus  music  and 
poetry,  and  probably  numbers  or  mathematics, 
were  born  together.  The  verses  which  she  sang 
may  be  translated  either,  — 

“ Gods  behold  the  cavern  door, 

Majesty  appears,  — hurrah ! 

Our  hearts  are  quite  satisfied, 

Behold  my  charms  I ” 


38 


JAPAN 


or,— 

“ One,  two,  three,  four, 

Five,  six,  seven. 

Eight,  nine,  ten. 

Hundred,  thousand,  myriad.” 

Any  one  who  travels  through  Japan,  in  places 
w^here  the  old  fashions  and  customs  are  still  kept 
up,  will  see  many  souvenirs  of  the  Uzume  comedy. 
Pretty  girls  still  peep  into  the  round  or  star- 
shaped mirror  to  see  their  lovely  faces  and  to 
heighten  their  charms. 

See  the  working-maid,  short  and  plump.  She 
has  little  black  oblique  ej^es,  puffy  red  cheeks 
well  dimpled,  and  raven-black  hair,  with  a strand 
or  two  loose  at  the  side,  and  well  parted  in  the 
middle.  See  her  about  to  wrestle  with  broom 
or  scrub-brush,  or  to  plunge  down  and  hoist  up 
the  well-hucket  slopping  over  wdth  water.  First 
she  will  tie  up  her  long,  loose  sleeves  as  Uzum^ 
did,  and  when  she  laughs,  which  is  often,  it  will 
be  with  a crackle.  She  is  an  Uzume  all  over 
again. 

Wait  to  see  a lovely  girl,  with  refined  face  and 
willowy  figure,  arrayed  in  all  the  glory  of  colors 
blended  with  exquisite  taste.  Enter  her  home, 
perhaps,  on  New  Year’s  Day.  I remember  one 
such,  the  daughter  of  a Cabinet  minister,  a 
princess  in  beauty  and  character,  and  nearly  so 
in  rank.  All  glorious  within  and  lovely  without, 
she  was  withal  full  of  sparkle  and  color.  Who 


' ORIGIN  OF  THE  ARTS  39 

I 

blames  her  for  inquiry  at  the  mirror?  A feast  to 
the  eyes,  she  is  the  Sun  Goddess  all  over  again. 

When  one  goes  out  on  festival  days,  and  sees 
before  the  temples,  or  in  matsuri  processions,  the 
merry-makers  with  curious  head-dress,  with  shrill 
flute,  drum,  dancing,  and  tricks  funny  and  fan- 
tastic that  keep  the  crowd  in  a roar,  he  knows 
that  they  are  performing  the  divine  comedy  again. 
Or  the  hagura  — “ the  capers  which  make  the 
gods  laugh  ” — are  cut  by  men  with  “ the  lion 
of  Corea”  over  their  heads  and  concealing  their 
legs.  Corea  is  the  country  from  which  many 
of  the  gods,  perhaps  the  Sun  Goddess  herself, 
came,  and  to  which  Susanod,  the  Moon  God,  was 
banished. 

Stuck  in  the  shining  black  tresses  of  the 
maidens  will  be  seen  the  tinsel  hairpins,  of 
wonderful  size  and  glitter,  just  as  the  gods  first 
fashioned  them.  The  festoons  of  twisted  rice- 
straw,  which  will  be  found  strung  over  gateways 
and  around  offerings  in  house  and  temple,  tell  of 
the  ropes  thrown  behind  the  Sun  Goddess  which 
kept  her  from  reentering  the  cave.  The  bamboo 
branches  tied  with  white  or  gay-colored  strips 
of  paper  point  to  the  jewel-hung  trees  which 
charmed  the  lady  peeping  out  of  the  cave.  The 
sakaki-tvQQ^  borne  at  funerals  or  on  gala  occa- 
sions, the  wands  with  notched  strips  of  white 
paper,  and  indeed  almost  everything  in  their 
mythology,  may  be  seen  in  use  to-day,  or,  if  no 


40 


JAPAN 


longer  in  fashion,  they  may  be  found  in  the 
museums  where  they  have  come  to  resurrection. 
The  curved  jewels,  the  copper  bells,  the  strange- 
shaped swords,  and  relics  of  by-gone  ages,  have 
been  found  in  the  tombs,  or  dug  up  out  of  the 
ground  from  under  the  mould  of  a thousand 
years,  in  the  place  where  old  imperial  capitals 
once  were. 

Early  Japanese  civilization  was  not  Chinese,  ' 
but  distinct  and  original.  The  arts  began  early, 
and  poets  and  myth-makers  probably  lived  at  the 
same  time  with  the  inventors.  They  knew  how 
to  tell  of  famous  events,  and  of  useful  or  beautiful 
inventions,  in  attractive  language  and  in  poetic 
phrase.  There  were  poets  in  those  early  days. 

There  are  some  foreign  scholars  who  think  the 
Japanese  mind  prosaic,  and  its  literature  destitute 
of  genius,  but  this  is  an  extreme  opinion.  In 
Japanese  mythology  are  many  wonderful  and 
beautiful  stories  which  show  deep  poetic  feeling 
and  rich  imagination,  while  they  are,  withal,  of 
real  originality. 

It  would  take  a long  time  and  many  books  to 
recite  all  the  fairy  tales,  and  the  lovely  or  horrible 
stories,  in  the  Kojiki,  or  Book  of  Ancient  Things, 
and  to  give  the  local  legends  which  tell  poetically 
the  origins  of  ornamental  and  useful  things  and 
of  trades  and  occupations.  The  carpenters,  black- 
smiths, jewelers,  potters,  dyers,  weavers,  and  other 
workers  in  the  arts  have  severally  their  patron 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  ARTS 


41 


gods  and  saints.  Thus,  through  mythology,  which 
is  but  decorated  or  gilded  history,  there  is  a sunny 
side  to  toil.  To  the  Japanese  child,  all  things 
began  in  Japan,  which  is  the  Holy  Country  and 
the  Land  of  the  Gods.  To  the  foreigner,  who 
hangs  on  his  walls  a costly  Japanese  picture 
upside  down,  or  prints  an  Oriental  map,  a coin, 
or  diagram  likewise,  things  Japanese  are  only 
puzzles  or  barbarous  curiosities.  To  read  aright 
the  meaning  of  Japanese  fairy  world  is  to  hold  a 
key  to  an  enchanted  palace  of  beauty. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  EAST. 

In  the  eyes  of  critical  students,  Japanese  his- 
tory, so  called,  is  not  worth  much  until  after  the 
fourth  century.  All  the  stories  before  that  time 
are  so  mixed  with  the  stuff  of  which  fairy  tales 
are  made,  that  they  cannot  be  accepted  as  fact. 
Instead  of  taking  as  real  what  Japanese  writers 
of  history  say  about  the  early  ages  of  the  empire, 
we  prefer  to  interpret  the  ancient  writings  for 
ourselves.  By  studying  the  oldest  poetry,  relics, 
and  legends,  we  obtain  from  them  a true  picture 
of  the  life  and  times  of  the  Japanese  before 
Chinese  civilization  and  Buddhism  came  in  to 
change  them.  Imbedded  in  many  of  the  old 
legends  is,  no  doubt,  much  interesting  material 
for  history. 

Even  yet,  in  Japan,  the  Mikado  is  popularly 
believed  to  be  divine  or  semi-divine.  Hence  it 
is  not  yet  safe  for  a native  of  the  Divine  Country 
to  write  about  the  emperor’s  ancestors  as  if  they 
were  men.  To  the  foreigner,  the  early  ages  are 
as  the  ages  of  fairyland,  where  clocks,  seasons, 
sunrise  and  sunsets  are  unknown. 

To  the  country  folks  in  Japan,  these  ages  were 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  EAST 


43 


divine,  and  the  wonderful  kami  or  gods  lived  in 
them.  They  were  more  glorious  than  the  present 
degenerate  times,  when  only  common  men  are  the 
emperor’s  advisers.  Even  as  late  as  the  year 
1892,  a learned  professor  in  the  Imperial  Univer- 
sity was  punished  for  studying  Japanese  history 
with  critical  care,  as  Europeans  study  it,  and  say- 
ing that  the  Mikado’s  ancestors  were  Coreans. 

When  the  government  says  that  Jimmu  Tenno, 
the  first  Mikado,  “ ascended  the  throne  ” B.  c. 
660,  or  2,552  years  ago,  every  Japanese  is  ex- 
pected to  believe  it,  at  least  to  believe  it  in  the 
Japanese  language.  If  he  doubts  it,  he  must 
doubt  it  in  English,  or  German,  or  French.  To 
doubt,  and  write  one’s  doubts  in  Japanese,  usually 
means  punishment  in  some  way,  and  in  old  times 
it  meant  imprisonment.  The  common  people  must 
not  find  out  the  truth  too  suddenly,  for  the  mys- 
tery-play of  the  divinity  of  the  Mikado  is  not  yet 
over.  Even  Japanese  educated  in  European  uni- 
versities must  still  talk  as  if  the  events  which  are 
said  to  have  occurred  a thousand  years  before 
time  was  recorded  in  Japan  were  known  in  de- 
tail. 

The  Kojiki,  or  Kecord  of  Ancient  Things, 
written  in  A.  D.  712,  but  not  printed  until  1642, 
is  a sort  of  Japanese  Bible.  The  Nihongi,  or 
Narratives  of  Japan,  was  written  in  a.  d.  720. 
It  is  to  the  Kojiki  what  the  books  of  Chronicles 
are  to  the  books  of  the  Kings.  It  tells  us  quite 


44 


JAPAN 


fully  about  the  seven  long-lived  emperors,  five  of 
whom  died  when  over  a hundred  years  old,  and 
one  of  whom  reigned  for  a century  and  a year. 

Many  of  the  stories  told  of  the  Jcami  or  deities 
are  very  curious.  In  one  case  a prince  marries  a 
beautiful  princess.  The  maiden’s  name,  Hinaga, 
means  fat  and  long.  She  changed  into  a serpent, 
from  which  the  prince  fled.  Many  of  the  gods 
had  tails,  and  some  of  them  had  horns.  The  scene 
of  the  narratives  is  first  in  Idzumo,  then  in  Ya/- 
mato,  and  then  in  other  provinces.  The  object 
of  the  stories  and  narrations  seems  to  be  to  ex- 
plain the  origin  and  note  the  ancestry  of  the 
tribes.  As  matter  of  fact,  these  ancestors  are 
now  the  gods  worshiped  at  the  local  shrines  all 
over  Japan.  In  nearly  every  town,  village,  and 
neighborhood,  in  addition  to  the  Buddhist  divini- 
ties, the  people  still  worship  local  gods.  These 
gods  were  once  nothing  more  than  the  savage 
ancestors  of  the  men  who  still  hoe  the  mud  of  the 
rice-fields,  and  kindle  smudge-fires  to  smoke  out 
the  mosquitoes.  According  to  the  old  chronicles, 
it  was  about  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era 
that  the  first  rudiments  of  civilization  began  to 
appear. 

Two  of  the  emperors,  Suijin  and  Suinin,  were 
great  civilizers,  the  former  reigning  from  97  to 
30  B.  c.,  and  the  latter  from  29  B.  c.  to  70  A.  D. 
By  them,  much  of  the  land  was  definitely  laid  out 
m rice-fields,  and  taxes  were  levied.  Pestilenc3e 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  EAST 


45 


! was  averted  by  making  gifts  of  spears,  shields, 
and  cloth  to  all  the  gods  of  the  rivers  and  hills. 
To  this  day,  the  Japanese  people  hang  up  strips 
of  cotton  and  hemp  cloth  in  the  form  of  handker- 
chiefs at  the  shrines  of  the  gods  and  on  sacred 
trees.  The  offerings  made,  when  fresh  and  bright 
and  gayly  dyed  in  colors,  are  very  pretty.  They 
hang  until  bleached  and  frayed  by  sun,  wind,  and 
rain.  When  blown  away,  or  shredded  to  rags, 
they  make  a most  disreputable-looking  sight.  In 
our  days,  having  learned  how  to  make  paper  from 
rags,  and  knowing  the  value  of  the  material,  they 
send  the  old  offerings  to  America,  or  turn  them 
into  newspaper  or  book  stock  in  their  own  new 
mills. 

After  the  pestilences  had  been  appeased,  a war 
with  a rebel  chief  fought,  and  other  adventures 
undergone,  the  emperor  Suinin  sent  a man  named 
Tajima-mori  .“to  the  Eternal  Land  to  fetch  the 
fruit  of  the  everlasting  fragrant  tree.”  This 
means  probably  that  he  went  to  the  warm  Riu 
Kiu  islands,  and  “the  fruit  of  the  everlasting 
fragrant  tree  ” is  what  is  now  called  the  orange. 
Erom  the  name  of  one  of  the  many  species,  Tachi- 
bana,  came  the  name  of  a Japanese  noble  family 
which  is  almost  as  famous  in  the  history  of  Japan 
as  that  of  Orange  is  in  the  history  of  England. 

One  of  the  figures  that  belong  to  the  early 
heroic  ages  is  that  of  Yamato  Dake  no  Mikoto, 
who  was  a son  of  the  twelfth  Mikado.  He  is 


46 


JAPAN 


believed  to  have  conquered  all  eastern  Japan  for 
his  father’s  empire.  When  a young  man,  being 
very  beautiful  of  face  and  figure,  he  borrowed  his 
aunt’s  clothes,  and  disguised  himself  as  a girl. 
Concealing  a sword  in  his  bosom,  he  secured 
entrance  to  the  tent  of  a rebel  chief  whom  he  was 
fighting  in  Kiushiu.  Once  inside  the  cave  where 
a banquet  was  to  be  held,  instead  of  a yielding 
girl  like  Judith  in  the  pavilion  of  Holof ernes,  the 
rebel  found  an  athletic  youth  who  overwhelmed 
and  killed  him.  This  feat  the  Japanese  artists 
love  to  picture  very  often.  After  this  exploit  he 
was  called  Yamato  Dake  no  Mikoto,  or.  His 
Augustness  the  Bravest  of  Warriors. 

Of  course,  when  the  tribes  which  the  Yamato 
or  Mikado’s  clan  were  trying  to  subdue  would 
not  submit,  or  when  they  became  hostile,  they 
were  called  “rebels,”  and  the  Yamato  clan-chief 
or  Mikado  usually  marched  in  person  to  chastise 
them.  In  this  case,  the  Mikado,  who  must  have 
been,  according  to  the  Kojiki,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-three  years  old,  sent  his  son,  Yamato  Dake 
no  Mikoto. 

The  handsome  Warrior  Prince  set  out  with  his 
army  from  central  Japan,  and  first  visited  Ise, 
where  still  is  the  holy  shrine  of  the  Sun  Goddess. 
Here  were  kept  the  imperial  regalia,  or  three 
precious  emblems,  sword,  mirror,  and  crystal  ball, 
which  Ninigi  had  brought  down  from  heaven. 
He  left  his  own  sword  under  a pine-tree,  and  the 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  EAST 


47 


priestess,  his  aunt,  gave  him  one  of  divine  temper. 
In  all  Japanese  history,  the  sword  is  almost  a 
holy  thing  as  if  alive ; it  is  the  emblem  of  the 
soul  of  the  hero  or  brave  warrior  who  loyally 
serves  the  Mikado.  All  famous  swords  have 
names.  Many  of  them  have  dates  and  mottoes, 
or  verses  of  poetry,  engraved  on  them.  Those 
forged  in  the  ancient  times  were  long,  perfectly 
straight,  and  double-edged. 

The  sword  given  to  the  Warrior  Prince  was 
that  taken  out  of  the  tail  of  the  eight-headed 
dragon  slain  by  Susanob,  who  had  intoxicated  the 
monster  with  eight  tubs  of  sak^,  or  rice-liquor.  It 
was  called  “ Cloud  Cluster,”  because  born  amid 
the  clustering  clouds  of  heaven.  The  priestess 
also  gave  her  nephew  a bag  which  she  told  him 
to  open  in  time  of  trouble.  In  later  times,  swords, 
when  first  given  to  boys  to  wear,  had  a charm- 
case  fastened  to  them.  Marching  eastward,  he 
met  the  enemy  on  one  of  the  grassy  plains  near 
the  base  of  Fuji  Yama.  When  these  eastern  or 
Ainu  savages  saw  the  army,  they  surrounded  it 
and  set  the  brushwood  on  fire.  For  a moment  it 
seemed  as  if  the  Yamato  men  would  be  swallowed 
up  in  the  flames.  In  this  emergency  he  bethought 
himself  of  the  bag  which  his  aunt  had  given  him. 
Opening  it,  he  found  materials  for  striking  a fire. 
So,  first  mowing  away  the  grass  and  underbrush 
with  his  sword,  he  struck  a fresh  fire  and  kindled 
such  a flame  that  his  enemies  were  driven  away. 


48 


JAPAN 


He  now  clianged  the  name  of  his  sword  to  “ Grass- 
mower.”  He  then  easily  conquered  the  enemy 
and  subdued  the  land. 

Crossing  the  Hakon^  mountains  he  descended 
into  the  great  plain  of  Yedo,  and  took  possession 
of  the  whole  region  round  Yedo  Bay.  The 
country  thus  brought  under  the  Mikado’s  rule 
was  called  Adzuma,  a word  which  means  “my 
wife.”  When  Yamato  Dake  was  crossing  a cer- 
tain bay  or  river,  in  what  is  now  the  province  of 
Musashi,  the  god  of  the  water  raised  a tempest. 
Seeing  this,  and  with  the  purpose  of  saving  her 
husband,  the  princess  Tachibana,  wife  of  the 
hero,  leaped  into  the  waves  to  appease  the  wrath 
of  the  gods.  By  drowning  herself  she  saved  her 
noble  husband.  Seven  days  afterward,  her  comb 
floated  ashore,  and  her  husband  placed  it  in 
a tomb  as  a precious  relic.  In  recrossing  the 
mountains,  on  his  homeward  march  and  by  way 
-of  a more  northerly  road,  he  looked  back  towards 
the  scene  of  his  wife’s  sacrifice  on  his  behalf. 
He  sighed  three  times,  saying,  “ Adzuma,  ha  ya,” 
or,  “ Oh,  my  wife ! ” The  Japanese  use  this  name, 
in  poetry,  for  all  eastern  Japan  ; and  when  they 
bought  an  ironclad  ship  from  the  govetninent  of 
the  United  States,  they  changed  its  name  from 
Stonewall  to  Adzuma. 

Yamato  Dake  met  with  many  adventures  with 
the  gods  of  the  strange  countries  through  which 
he  passed,  but  he  overcame  them  as  he  went. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  EAST 


49 


One  of  the  hami  appeared  to  him  as  a white  deer. 
Another  lighted  smudge-fires  to  drive  away  the 
mosquitoes.  Another  became  a white  boar  that 
filled  all  the  region  with  mist  and  hail.  Another 
opposed  him  in  the  form  of  a serpent.  He  over- 
came or  circumvented  them  all,  and  finally  reached 
home  after  an  absence  of  three  years.  Weary 
and  exhausted  after  his  long  campaign,  he  com- 
posed some  poetry,  and  while  singing  part  of  a 
stanza  died.  His  body  turned  into  a great  white 
bird,  and  flew  away  towards  heaven. 

Yamato  Dake  is  one  of  the  great  figures 
that  loom  up  in  the  legendary  history  of  early 
Japan.  Around  him  many  wonderful  stories 
cluster.  With  the  artists  and  novel-writers,  myth 
and  fairy-tale  makers,  nurses  and  grandmothers, 
boys  and  girls,  he  is  a great  favorite.  Many  of 
the  curious  customs  of  the  Japanese,  such  as 
hanging  up  garlic  before  gates  and  doors  in  time 
of  contagious  sickness,  and  the  wearing  of  amulet- 
bags  in  the  children’s  belts,  cannot  be  easily,  or 
at  least  plainly,  understood  without  remembering 
him  and  the  stories  told  about  him.  He  is 
believed  also  to  have  been  the  inventor  of  the 
eT  apanese  uta^  or  poem,  which  always  consists  of 
thirty-one  syllables.  It  is  arranged  in  five  lines, 
the  metre  being  7,  5,  7,  5,  7,  or  “three  7s  and 
two  5s,”  as  the  hymn-books  would  say.  To  make 
this  exact  number  of  thirty-one  syllables,  dummy 
words  which  have  no  sense  or  meaning,  but  serve 


50 


JAPAN 


only  for  sound  or  bulk,  are  often  used.  These  are 
called  head  or  pillow  words. 

Thus  in  1854,  when  Commodore  Perry  anchored 
his  ships  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo,  in  the  province  of 
Musashi,  near  the  place  where  Yamato  Dake’s 
wife  threw  herself  in  the  sea,  a Japanese  poet 
wrote  a stanza  of  five  lines  which  we  translate  in 
four,  as  follows : — 

“ On  Musashi’s  bright  sea, 

The  rising  moon 
In  California 
Makes  setting  gloom.” 

In  the  Japanese  original,  the  five-syllable  word, 
forming  the  whole  of  one  line,  is  only  a bolster  or 
pillow  word  for  the  stanza  to  rest  its  head  upon, 
and  meaning  nothing  whatever.  In  the  Japanese 
uta^  or  poem,  only  pure  Japanese  words  are  al- 
lowed. In  the  longer  poems,  and  other  forms  of 
composition,  Chinese  terms  are  freely  employed. 

It  is  also  thought  that  Yamato  Dake  first 
taught  the  making  of  fire  by  flint'  and  steel. 
At  the  time  of  Uzume’s  dancing  before  the  cave 
of  the  Sun  Goddess,  the  bonfires  were  lighted  by 
a blaze  obtained  from  a fire-drill,  such  as  savage 
men  still  use  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  Ya- 
mato Dake  kindled  the  grass  by  means  of  flint 
and  steel  given  him  in  the  bag  furnished  by  his 
aunt.  So  here  is  probably  the  story  of  a new 
invention  which  was  very  wonderful  in  its  time. 

Heretofore  “the  Empire  of  Japan,”  which 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  EAST  51 

ater  historians  write  about,  meant,  in  reality, 
only  Yamato,  or  Idzumo,  or  a comparatively 
small  region  in  central  Hondo.  After  Yamato 
Dake’s  time,  the  territory  of  the  Mikados  was 
much  mor6  extensive,  being  ruled  more  or  less 
successfully  by  them.  The  Yamato  tribe  ex- 
tended their  power  to  about  the  thirty-seventh 
or  thirty-eighth  parallel  of  latitude.  This  line* 
would  include  the  part  of  J apan  now  most  thickly 
populated.  Nevertheless,  the  eastern  tribes  often 
broke  out  into  rebellion,  and  many  military  expe- 
ditions were  necessary  to  tranquilize  the  various 
disquieted  regions.  The  successful  general  was 
called  Sei-i  Tai  Shogun,  that  is,  the  Pacifier, 
or  Queller,  of  the  Barbarians.  The  title,  first 
granted  in  a.  d.  813,  was  to  one  Watamaro. 
This  Shogun,  from  being  a general  in  the  army, 
afterwards  became  the  great  Tycoon,  whom  our 
fathers  supposed  to  be  an  “ emperor  ” ! 


CHAPTER  VII. 


COREA  AND  BUDDHISM. 

r 

* The  Japanese  books  have  much  to  tell  about  a 
famous  lady  who,  they  say,  lived  in  the  third  cen- 
tury. The  artists  often  picture  her  in  the  robes 
of  a princess.  She  was  a wonderfully  clever  wo- 
man, who  was  probably  much  more  enterprising 
than  her  husband.  Indeed,  the  Japanese  say  she 
conquered  Corea.  This  is  the  way  the  event  came 
about : — 

Jingu  was  the  Icdgo  or  wife  of  the  fourteenth 
Mikado,  named  Chiuai.  To  this  day,  the  Empress 
of  Japan  is  called  Kogo  sama.  In  a battle  with 
rebels  he  was  killed,  and  she  was  left  a widow. 
It  is  said  that  she  lived  to  be  one  hundred  years 
old,  and  ruled  the  country  from  A.  D.  201  to  269. 
Her  counselor  was  the  Japanese  Methuselah, 
Takenouchi,  who  lived  to  be  several  hundred 
years  old.  When  she  planned  to  conquer  Corea, 
all  the  hami  helped  her,  one  bringing  timber, 
another  iron,  another  cordage  for  her  fleet. 

Assembling  her  ships  and  soldiers,  Kai  Riu  0, 
or  the  Dragon  King  of  the  World  Under  the  Sea, 
presented  her  with  two  flashing  balls  of  crystal. 
These  jewels  controlled  the  tides,  making  ebb  or 
flood  as  desired. 


COREA  AND  BUDDHISM 


53 


Once  fairly  out  to  sea,  a great  storm  came  on, 
and  then  Kai  Eiu  O,  or  the  Dragon  King,  sent 
huge  fishes  to  push  and  pull  the  vessels  forward. 
When  the  Coreans  lined  the  shore  to  oppose  her 
invasion,  she  threw  in  the  ebb-tide  jewel,  which 
caused  the  sea  to  recede  and  leave  the  ground 
bare.  When  the  Coreans  rushed  forward  to 
attack  the  Japanese  ships,  which,  as  they  supposed, 
were  stranded,  the  queen  threw  in  the  flood-tide 
jewel,  and  the  Coreans  were  drowned  in  the  in- 
rushing  waters. 

Safely  landing  her  army  on  the  coast,  the  coun- 
try was  easily  conquered.  The  king  was  reduced 
to  submission,  and  sent  eighty  tribute  vessels 
loaded  with  gold,  silver,  pictures,  silk,  and  pre- 
cious things  of  all  sorts,  with  Corean  lords  and 
ladies  as  hostages.  Many  skilled  workmen  and 
experts  in  fine  arts  were  also  taken  home  with 
them  by  the  Japanese. 

On  reaching  Japan  a son  was  born  to  the  em- 
press, and  named  Ojin.  The  baby  boy  had  a mark 
under  his  arms  like  a quiver.  He  became  a great 
warrior,  and  after  his  death  was  worshiped  as  the 
God  of  War.  He  is  the  Japanese  Mars.  This 
was  their  first  foreign  war  ; and  on  account  of 
Jingu’s  conquest,  the  Japanese,  even  down  to 
1873,  claimed  that  Corea  belonged  to  Japan. 
Unfortunately,  however,  Corean  history,  as  thus 
far  studied,  knows  nothing  of  this  legendary 
exploit. 


54 


JAPAN 


If  we  examine  J apanese  fans,  vases,  or  carvings, 
we  shall  be  pretty  sure  to  find  either  Queen  Jingu, 
or  Ojin,  her  baby,  the  young  God  of  War,  or  the 
Dragon  King  and  the  tide  jewels,  or  Takenouchi, 
the  prime  minister,  who  usually  holds  Ojin  in  his 
arms. 

What  is  the  nucleus  of  the  story  ? 

Though  the  fact  be  doubtful,  the  story  entered 
very  fully  into  the  art  and  lore  of  this  warlike 
people.  The  people  of  Kiushiu  built  a temple  in 
honor  of  Queen  Jingu’s  son,  and  it  is  said  that  eight 
white  banners  fell  down  from  heaven  upon  it.  W e 
shall  see  how,  long  afterwards,  when  the  Buddhists 
baptized  the  old  native  gods  with  new  names,  the 
boy  baby,  Ojin,  became  the  great  Hachiman,  or 
the  Great  Buddha  of  the  Eight  Banners.  Every 
Japanese  soldier  in  the  Middle  Ages  used  to 
invoke  the  aid  of  Hachiman,  and  many  of  them 
yet  do  so.  They  also  carry  his  image  as  an  amulet 
in  their  caps.  The  precedent  of  Jingu’s  conquest, 
A.  D.  203,  was  one  chief  cause  of  the  great  Japa- 
nese invasion  and  occupation  of  Corea  in  1592- 
1597.  It  also  brought  on  a civil  war  in  Japan  in 
1874.  The  question  of  considering  Jingu  as  one 
of  the  Mikados,  or  empresses  in  the  line  of  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty-two  or  more,  has  often 
been  the  occasion  of  hot  disputes  and  political 
quarrels.  Most  native  historians  now  omit  her 
name  as  empress. 

Exactly  how  much  is  true  in  the  early  traditions 


COREA  AND  BUDDHISM 


55 


of  the  Japanese,  which  were  first  written  down  in 
the  eighth  century,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  It  seems 
quite  certain  that  many  of  the  so-called  gods  and 
goddesses  in  the  Kojiki  were  nothing  more  or  less 
than  Coreans  who  came  over  into  the  Sunrise 
Kingdom.  Even  the  Sun  Goddess  herself  was 
probably  only  a Tartar  or  Corean  lady,  or  queen 
of  a tribe.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Susanoo, 
the  god-man  in  the  moon,  and  the  Oshiko  Mimi 
I no  Mikoto,  whom  the  Japanese  especially  cele- 
brate. 

It  is  possible  that  in  the  native  mythology  we 
find  imbedded  the  fantastic  account  of  what  we 
may  call  the  first  of  four  great  waves  of  civilizing 
influences  which  Japan  received  from  the  West, 
in  the  third,  the  sixth,  the  sixteenth,  and  the  nine- 
teenth centuries.  Queen  Jingu’s  invasion  of 
Corea  was  but  an  episode  in  a long  series  of  in- 
fluences upon  Japan  from  the  Continent.  From 
'the  mythical  times  until  the  tenth  century,  there 
came  to  the  Sunrise  Kingdom  a steady  stream  of 
emigrants.  Many  of  these  were  soldiers,  farmers, 
skilled  mechanics,  physicians,  missionaries,  artists, 
and  teachers  of  the  arts  and  sciences.  They 
brought  tools,  trades,  books,  scriptures,  idols,  cos- 
tumes, medicines,  and  almanacs.  In  a word,  they 
were  men  who  introduced  new  principles  of  civili- 
zation. They  so  improved  the  Japanese  people 
that  they  are  now  gratefully  venerated  or  wor- 
shiped, and  called  heroes,  saints,  gods,  and  demi- 
gods. 


56 


JAPAN 


Concerning  the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  there 
is  little  said  in  the  native  histories,  except  that 
silkworms  were  introduced,  and  some  improve- 
ments made  in  rice-culture.  Civil  wars  at  home 
and  fights  in  Corea  were  common.  Most  critical 
scholars  think  that  it  is  not  until  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  century  that  dates  in  Japanese  history 
can  be  relied  upon. 

In  the  reign  of  the  twenty-sixth  Mikado,  the  first 
Buddhist  images  were  brought  to  Japan.  It  was 
not,  however,  until  the  year  552  that  Buddhism 
was  regularly  introduced  and  the  J apanese  gained 
a new  religion.  The  king  of  one  of  the  three 
kingdoms  in  Corea  sent  over  priests,  scriptures, 
idols,  and  everything  necessary  to  furnish  a tem- 
ple. The  bonzes,  or  missionaries,  preached  the 
new  doctrines  at  court,  but  met  with  violent  oppo- 
sition from  the  Shintoists,  or  worshipers  of  the 
Icami.  The  Mikado,  therefore,  declined  to  become 
a Buddhist,  but  gave  the  books  and  images  to  one 
of  his  high  officers,  Soga  no  luame,  who  honored 
Buddha. 

This  nobleman  at  once  installed  the  priests  and 
idols  in  his  house,  which  became  the  first  Buddhist 
temple  in  Japan. 

Like  most  religious  devotees  all  over  the  world, 
the  conservative  Shintoists  ascribed  the  diseases 
which  presently  broke  out  to  the  wrath  ’of  the 
native  gods,  who  had  sent  the  pestilence  upon  the 
Japanese  to  punish  them  for  harboring  new 


COREA  AND  BUDDHISM 


57 


I deities.  The  Shintoists  burnt  down  Soga  no 
Iname’s  house,  and  hurled  the  image  of  Buddha 
into  the  river.  In  turn,  such  awful  calamities 
visited  the  people  that  the  temple  was  allowed  to 
be  rebuilt,  for  this  time  the  Buddhist  powers 
were  angry. 

Fresh  missionaries  came  over  from  Corea,  and 
priests  and  nuns  went  about  preaching  and  gather- 
ing converts.  In  the  time  of  the  female  Mikado, 
Suiko  (593-628),  the  followers  of  Buddha  num- 
bered many  thousands,  and  the  empress  openly 
declared  herself  among  them.  Her  adopted  heir, 

I Shotoku,  also  zealously  assisted  her,  and  at  his 
I death  there  were  forty-six  Buddhist  temples,  eight 
I hundred  and  sixteen  priests,  and  over  five  hun- 
dred monks  and  nuns  in  the  country.  The 
Buddhists  greatly  venerate  the  name  of  Shotoku, 
whose  posthumous  title  means  Great  Master  of 
the  Illustrious  Teaching  of  Virtue. 

It  is  not  possible  here  to  explain  what  the  re- 
ligion of  Buddhism  is.  We  can  only  contrast  it 
with  Shinto.  The  latter  could  hardly  be  called  a 
religion,  because  it  had  then  no  writings  and  no 
priesthood.  Its  shrines  were  very  simple,  without 
images  or  ornaments,  and  as  bare  and  barn-like 
as  most  early  Protestant  meeting-houses.  On  the 
contrary.  Buddhism  is,  in  outward  form,  as  rich 
and  bright,  and  attractive  to  the  senses,  as  Roman 
or  Greek  Catholic  churches.  Besides  images,  pic- 
tures, lights,  altars,  rich  vestments,  masses,  beads, 


58 


JAPAN 


wayside  shrines,  monasteries,  monks,  nuns,  shorn 
priests,  bishops,  archbishops,  pope  or  lama,  saintly 
intercession,  indulgences,  miracle-working  relics, 
exclusive  burial-ground,  and  splendid  sacred  edi- 
fices for  worship.  Buddhism  has  scriptures,  rules 
of  discipline,  doctrines,  a calendar  of  saints,  and 
nearly  everything  visible  that  is  found  in  the 
Roman  system. 

Like  all  other  religions.  Buddhism  has  been 
propagated  by  missionaries  and  teachers  with  pa- 
tience, earnest  prayers,  plenty  of  money,  and  hard 
work.  We  have  not  space  to  tell  the  story  of  the 
planting  of  the  faith,  its  missionary  and  its  doc- 
trinal development,  nor  of  its  great  teachers, 
saints,  and  heroes.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  it 
required  nearly  a thousand  years  to  convert  the 
whole  Japanese  nation.  When,  in  the  ninth 
century,  the  learned  priest  Kobo  taught  that 
Shinto  was  but  another  form  of  Buddhism,  and 
that  even  the  kami  or  gods  were  early  manifesta- 
tions of  Buddha  or  his  saints,  and  so  baptized  all 
the  old  deities  and  festivals  with  new  names,  the 
triumph  of  the  faith  was  secured.  Henceforth 
Buddhism  became  the  chief  religion,  though 
Shinto  was  never  wholly  forgotten.  The  old 
doctrines  and  practices  were  kept  alive  by  the 
scholars  and  devoted  patriots  until  the  great 
revival  and  ascendency  in  our  own  time.  To  the 
mass  of  the  people,  Shinto  was  but  a system  of 
national  legends.  They  knew  that  a Buddhist 


COREA  AND  BUDDHISM  59 

^ temple  was  a tera,  and  a Shinto  shrine  was  a miya^ 
i but  they  could  not  go  much  further. 

What  Buddhism  has  been  to  Japan,  and  done 
\ for  her  people,  let  Professor  Basil  Hall  Cham- 
il  berlain  tell.  We  quote  from  the  invaluable  little 
i book,  “ Things  J apanese  : — ” 
j “ All  education  was  for  centuries  in  Buddhist 
i hands.  Buddhism  introduced  art,  introduced  med- 
I icine,  moulded  the  folk-lore  of  the  country,  created 
i its  dramatic  poetry,  deeply  influenced  politics  and 
> every  sphere  of  social  and  intellectual  activity.  In 
a word.  Buddhism  was  the  teacher  under  whose 
instruction  the  Japanese  nation  grew  up.” 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


HOW  THEY  LOOK  AT  THE  WORLD. 

The  dreams  of  a Japanese  child,  the  thoughts 
of  his  mind,  the  action  of  his  brain,  are  different 
from  those  of  children  born  between  Boston  and 
San  Francisco.  His  eyes  see  more,  and  less,  than 
ours  when  looking  out  on  the  world.  The  stars, 
the  trees  and  flowers,  the  sea  and  land,  have  each 
a different  story  to  tell.  From  his  babyhood,  the 
fairy  tales,  the  explanation  of  things,  the  answer 
of  nurse  and  parents  and  grandmother  to  his 
Why  ? and  How  ? are  not  what  the  answers  to 
us  have  been.  Hence  his  dreams  and  thoughts 
are  quite  different  from  those  of  our  boys  and 
girls. 

In  these  days,  of  course,  at  the  public  schools, 
the  Japanese  boy  learns  the  geography  of  the 
world  and  the  history  of  nations,  besides  getting  a 
smattering  of  various  sciences.  Then  he  comes 
home  to  bother  his  father  and  mother  with  strange 
words  and  notions.  Yet,  with  the  great  multitude 
of  the  people,  especially  those  in  the  country,  the 
old  opinions  still  prevail,  and  will  hold  their  own 
for  centuries  to  come.  For  example,  earthquakes 
are  very  frequent  and  often  dangerous  in  Japan. 


HOW  THEY  LOOK  AT  THE  WORLD  61 

In  October,  1891,  about  ten  thousand  people  were 
killed  or  wounded  by  them.  Naturally,  one  asks 
what  causes  them.  A scientific  man,  in  trying  to 
explain  them,  will  talk  about  the  “ attraction  of 
gravitation,”  “ density,”  “ pressure,”  etc.,  etc.;  but 
to  the  Japanese  farm-laborer  the  cause  is  plain 
enough.  It  is  jishin-uwo. 

Now  the  earthquake-fish  is  a great  monster  some- 
what like  a catfish.  It  is  seven  hundred  miles 
long,  and  holds  the  world  on  its  back.  Just  as 
the  Greek  children  were  told  that  under  the  vol- 
cano of  Stromboli,  in  the  Mediterranean,  was 
buried  a giant,  and  that  his  writhings  caused  the 
earthquake,  so  the  Japanese  countryfolk  think 
that  the  wrathful  wriggling  of  the  great  catfish 
makes  houses  fall  and  the  ground  crack.  With  his 
tail  up  in  the  north,  and  his  head  in  the  region  of 
Kioto,  he  can  shake  all  Japan.  W^hat  hinders 
him  from  utterly  destroying  the  country  ? 

When  the  world  was  first  created  by  Izanagi 
and  Izanami,  there  were  two  gods  who  were 
charged  with  subduing  the  northeastern  part  of 
Japan.  Having  quieted  all  the  enemies  of  the  Sun 
Goddess,  one  of  them,  Kashima,  stuck  his  sword  in 
the  earth  and  ran  it  through  to  the  other  side,  leav- 
ing only  the  hilt  above  ground.  In  the  course  of 
centuries,  this  mighty  sword  shrunk  and  turned  to 
stone,  and  the  people  gave  it  the  name  of  Kanam^- 
ishi.  It  is  the  rivet-rock  of  the  world,  binding 
the  earth  together,  as  the  haname  or  rivet  binds 


62 


JAPAN 


the  sticks  of  a fan.  No  one  can  lift  this  rock  ex- 
cept Kashima,  who  first  put  it  there.  Yet  even 
he  never  touches  it  except  when  the  earthquake- 
fish  gets  very  violent.  Then  the  god  holds  him 
down  with  the  rivet-rock  and  he  becomes  quiet. 

For  the  causes  of  other  things,  these  people, 
who  lived  so  long  out  on  an  island  separate  from 
the  rest  of  humanity,  and  thought  “ the  world  ” 
meant  Japan,  were  accustomed  to  look  to  their 
mythology,  just  as  the  old  Greek  children  did  to 
theirs.  For  example,  when  the  Japanese  scholars 
learned  from  the  Dutchmen  who  lived  at  Naga- 
saki that  the  earth  revolved  daily  on  its  axis, 
spinning  round  like  a top  in  motion,  they  at  once 
remembered  that  Izanagi  had  thrust  in  his  spear 
and  stirred  the  earth  around.  This,  then,  they 
thought,  was  the  cause  of  the  daily  revolution  of 
the  earth. 

The  spot  where  Izanagi  came  down  to  earth, 
and  stuck  his  spear  in  the  ground  to  make  it  the 
main  pillar  of  a palace,  was  formerly  the  North 
Pole ; but  since  that  ancient  time  the  earth  has 
wabbled  over.  The  spot  marked  by  Izanagi’s 
spear  is  at  Eshima,  an  island  off  the  eastern  coast 
of  Japan.  This  proves,  they  think,  that  «Tapan 
lies  on  the  summit  of  the  globe. 

Foreign  countries,  as  well  as  several  thousand 
small  islands  of  Japan,  were  not  made  by  Izanagi, 
but  were  formed  by  the  foam  and  floating  mud 
of  the  seas  curdling  and  becoming  solid. 


HOW  THEY  LOOK  AT  THE  WOULD  63 

In  Japanese  poetry  and  romance,  there  are 
many  honorable  names  for  the  sun  and  moon.  In 
pictures  and  poems,  much  is  made  of  these  two 
luminaries,  but  very  little  of  the  stars.  The 
poets,  lovers,  and  romantic  folk  spend  many  hours 
in  gazing  at  the  moon.  On  moonlight  nights,  in 
mild  weather,  thousands  of  people  throng  the 
bridges,  walk  the  streets,  or  lounge  in  boats  on 
the  river,  enjoying  themselves  in  looking  skyward. 

I The  houses  have  moon-viewing  chambers.  The 
novels  are  full  of  the  same  sentimental  habit. 
The  Genji  Monogatari,  or  story  of  Genji,  is  one  of 
the  most  famous  in  Japan.  It  is  often  quoted  in 
speech  and  book,  and  its  scenes  and  characters 
are  illustrated  on  fans,  napkins,  and  literature 
almost  as  much  as  those  of  Shakespeare  are  with 
us.  It  has  fifty-four  chapters,  named  after  the 
beautiful  women  beloved  of  Prince  Genji,  and 
each  woman’s  name  is  that  of  a flower.  It  was 
composed  in  the  year  1004,  by  its  authoress,  under 
inspiration  of  the  moon  reflected  in  the  water 
of  Lake  Biwa.  She  wrote  two  chapters  the  first 
night,  and  finished  the  whole  work  in  a few  weeks. 
The  moon  filled  her  soul  with  blossoming  thoughts 
and  images. 

Yet,  as  I have  intimated,  while  a large  book 
on  the  lunar  enjoyment  of  Japanese  people  could 
be  easily  compiled,  the  stars  are  quite  neglected 
both  by  poets  and  people.  Probably  this  is  be- 
cause the  planets  and  stars  were  made  from  the 


64 


JAPAN 


mud  whicli  flew  off  from  the  earth  when  stirred 
up  by  Izanagi.  Some  wise  men  used  to  think  that 
the  stars  were  made  chiefly  to  guide  navigators 
and  other  foreign  people  to  the  land  of  the  Mi- 
kado to  bring  their  tribute  to  him.  In  fact,  some 
old-time  Japanese  were  as  conceited  as  the  Chi- 
nese whom  they  ridicule. 

Occasionally  a girl  is  named  Hoshi,  or  star,  but 
the  people  have,  in  the  name,  hardly  any  special 
poetical  associations.  Quartz  crystals  are  sup- 
posed to  have  dropped  from  the  stars,  or  from  a 
dragon’s  mouth.  The  one  story  connected  with 
the  stars  is  of  the  herdsman  and  weaving-girl. 
These  are  the  stars  in  Aquila  and  the  star  Vega, 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  Milky  Way.  Japanese 
children  celebrate  with  great  glee  the  festival  of 
the  Weaving  Princess  and  the  Ox-King  on  the 
evening  of  the  seventh  day  of  August.  During 
the  day  they  tie  bright-colored  strips  of  paper, 
written  over  with  poems,  to  bamboo  poles,  set  these 
up  in  various  places,  and  hope  for  good  luck.  The 
lovers  up  in  the  sky  can  only  cross  the  River  of 
Heaven,  as  the  Milky  Way  is  called,  on  this  one 
night.  Then,  if  the  weather  is  fair,  and  the  river 
not  overflowed,  myriads  of  magpies  fly  together 
and  make  a bridge  over  the  stars  for  the  pair  to 
cross  and  meet. 

Up  in  the  moon  grows  a hatsura^  or  cassia-tree, 
whose  leaves  in  autumn  turn  red.  This  is  what 
causes  the  brilliant  color  which  so  delights  the 


HOW  THEY  LOOK  AT  THE  WORLD  65 

moon-gazers.  In  August  and  September,  both 
young  folks  and  middle-aged  will  sit  up  all  night 
until  well  into  the  morning  to  see  the  moon  rise 
over  the  sea,  meanwhile  drinking  rice-wine  and 
composing  poetry.  Every  one  who  has  studied 
the  pictures  on  fans  and  cabinets  is  familiar  with 
the  bright  red  moon  of  the  Japanese  artists. 

j Usually  it  is  seen  rising  behind  bamboo  groves. 

I In  the  three  great  nights  in  the  lunar  year,  the 
harvest  moon,  which  the  Japanese  call  the  bean 
moon,  is  most  looked  at ; then  the  people  make 
offerings  of  beans  and  dumplings,  and  decorate 
their  houses  with  eulalia  grass  and  Japan  clover, 
which  botanists  name  Lespedeza,  after  Lespedez, 
an  old  Spanish  governor  of  Florida.  The  next 
following  moon,  in  September  or  October,  is  the 
chestnut  moon,  because  celebrated  with  bouquets, 
chestnuts,  and  dumplings. 

Until  1872,  as  in  all  old  nations,  the  moon 
marked  the  month,  and  the  lunar  calendar  was 
the  rule.  In  that  year,  greatly  to  the  disgust  of 
the  Chinese,  the  Japanese  left  off  the  old  fashion, 
and  counted  their  days,  months,  and  years  accord- 
ing to  European  almanacs.  At  first  the  change 
wrought  sad  havoc  with  the  old  customs.  The 
anniversaries,  which  always  came  on  such  a day 
of  such  a moon,  had  to  be  adjusted  to  the  new 
state  of  things.  Now,  however,  all  but  the  priests 
and  a few  old  folks  are  used  to  the  change,  and 
like  being  in  step  with  the  rest  of  the  world. 


G6 


JAPAN 


In  the  moon,  the  poets  and  novelists  not  only 
locate  a great  city,  whose  exact  site  is  as  uncertain 
as  that  of  Norumbega,  but  also  tell  of  a moon- 
maiden  who  comes  down  to  the  earth.  She  is  very 
lovely,  sometimes  has  wings,  and  is  shining  bright 
like  crystal.  'She  is  sent  to  the  earth  as  a punish- 
ment for  her  offenses.  In  one  story,  an  old  bam- 
boo-cutter finds,  in  a joint  of  a growing  bamboo 
cane,  a tiny  human  child  no  longer  than  a lady’s 
finger.  She  glistens  with  light  like  a gem,  and 
grows  to  be  so  amazingly  beautiful  that  all  the 
princes  fall  in  love  with  her.  She  is  called  Prin- 
cess Splendor.  Like  the  imperious  lady  of  other 
fairy  worlds,  she  lays  impossible  tasks  upon  them. 
One  lover  is  told  to  go  to  India  and  bring  back 
the  stone  bowl  of  Buddha ; another  must  get  the 
jewel-lance  from  Horai  in  the  Eternal  Land ; a 
third  must  snatch  the  jewel  from  the  claws  of  the 
dragons  under  the  sea ; and  so  on  through  a long 
chapter.  Even  the  Mikado  falls  in  love  with  her ; 
but  notwithstanding  that  he  sets  two  thousand 
expert  archers  about  the  bamboo-cutter’s  hut  and 
on  the  roof,  she  is  carried  away  in  a flying  chariot 
to  the  moon,  leaving  the  old  man  broken-hearted. 

In  another  case  a moon-maiden,  who  has  taken 
off  her  wings  and  suit  of  feathers  to  bathe  in  the 
sea  of  Suruga’s  shore,  has  her  celestial  clothing 
stolen  by  a fisherman.  Only  after  much  trouble 
does  she  regain  her  fairy  suit,  and  then  she  flies 
away  to  the  moon.  A shrine  was  afterwards  built 


HOW  THEY  LOOK  AT  THE  WORLD  67 


to  mark  the  spot,  and  the  story  is  still  told  to  the 
; children  and  danced  and  acted  to  their  elders. 

The  common  people,  who  are  more  prosaic  in 
their  notions,  and  depend  more  on  Chinese  and 
Buddhist  stories,  see,  instead  of  a man  in  the 
I moon,  a hare  pounding  mocAf,  or  rice-dough  for 
cakes.  In  the  Hindoo  story,  the  hare  pounds 
drugs  as  a punishment ; but  as  in  Japan  the  word 
I mochi  means  both  “ full  moon  ” and  “ rice-pastry,” 
j the  Japanese  will  have  it  that  the  pestle  of  “ the 
i pearly  hare  ” is  beating,  in  the  well-known  wooden 
mortar  seen  in  every  rice-shop,  the  material  for 
I the  national  cake.  In  the  sun  they  do  not  see 
spots,  but  a three-legged  crow.  “ The  golden 
crow  and  the  jeweled  hare”  are  the  poetical  terms 
for  the  great  lights  that  rule  the  day  and  night. 

In  Japan  there  is  a kind  of  opera,  or  panto- 
mimic dances,  called  no.  Foreigners  soon  tire  in 
seeing  even  one  performance  of  these  dances,  for 
they  often  last  many  hours.  They  consist  chiefly 
of  music  and  pantomime,  with  strange  gestures, 
motions  and  grimaces  of  men  curiously  dressed, 
often  with  grotesque  masks,  and  perhaps  with 
trails  several  yards  long.  To  the  foreign  spec- 
tator they  are  wearisome,  mainly  because  he  does 
not  understand  or  appreciate  them.  He  sees  only 
motions  which  have  no  meaning  to  him.  The 
Japanese  delight  in  them  because  they  represent 
to  him  the  events  and  scenes,  tragic,  dramatic,  or 
comic,  of  his  fairy  world. 


68 


JAPAN 


For  example,  if  a man  is  making  curious 
motions,  as  if  trying  to  escape  a flood,  and  dodg- 
ing his  head,  with  his  mouth  up  in  the  air  as  if  to 
escape  drowning,  while  another  holds  in  his  hand 
two  shining  crystal  balls,  he  knows  the  dance 
represents  the  story  of  Princes  Fire  Fade  and 
Fire  Glow. 

If  one  man  be  dressed  in  a dragon-helmet  with 
a back-cover  of  glistening  scales,  behaving  like  a 
drunken  man,  while  another  is  brandishing  a 
great  sword,  he  knows  it  is  the  story  of  the  Moon 
God  who  slew  the  eight-headed  dragon  after  in- 
toxicating him  with  rice-wine.  Similarly,  also,  the 
archer  who  slew  the  dragon-centipede,  and  de- 
livered the  maiden  doomed  to  death ; or  the 
moon-fairy  tantalized  by  the  fisherman  who  is 
keeping  her  suit  of  feathers  ; or  the  fox-god  that 
helped  the  famous  sword-maker  Mundchika  to 
forge  his  blades,  — are  represented  in  the  no 
dances.  The  musicians  and  singers  forming  the 
chorus  tell  the  story  and  the  dancers  act  it  out. 
The  music  represents  the  gentle  rain ; the  wind 
stirring  the  pine-trees  ; the  pheasants  calling  to 
their  young  ; the  nightingale’s  notes,  or  the  crash 
of  thunder,  the  lapsing  of  waves  and  the  roar  of 
the  sea. 

In  a word,  the  Japanese  cultivate  their  flowers, 
teach  their  children,  write  their  books,  name  their 
minerals,  animals,  shells,  and  living  pets,  write 
their  stories,  paint  their  pictures,  look  out  upon 


HOW  THEY  LOOK  AT  THE  WORLD  G9 

the  universe,  and  populate  the  heavens,  the  air, 
the  earth,  and  the  waters,  differently  from  us,  be- 
cause their  ancients,  their  scriptures,  their  country, 

I and  their  insular  experiences  are  unique. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE  MIKADO  AND  HIS  SAMURAI. 

From  the  fifth  century  the  Japanese  stand  in 
the  dear  light  of  history.  With  writing,  and 
methods  of  reckoning  time,  it  is  easy  to  keep 
records  of  what  actually  happened.  We  find  that 
after  the  seventeenth  Mikado,  Nintoku,  dies,  at 
the  age  of  one  hundred  and  ten  years,  there  are 
no  more  long-lived  emperors.  Even  on  the  throne, 
and  called  Sons  of  Heaven,  they  die  at  about  the 
same  age  as  common  folks.  After  clocks  and 
almanacs  come  into  use,  it  is  found  that  only 
three  emperors  in  the  whole  of  the  long  line  have 
lived  to  the  age  of  fourscore  years,  and  but  a few 
to  the  age  of  seventy.  From  the  death  of  Nin- 
toku to  Kimmei,  in  whose  reign  large  companies 
of  Corean  scholars,  teachers,  missionaries,  and  cun- 
ning workmen  came  over  to  Japan,  the  average 
reign  of  fourteen  Mikados  was  but  ten  years. 

Buddhism  wrought  a great  change  in  both  the 
court  and  the  nation.  Shrines,  temples,  and  pago- 
das were  built  all  over  the  country,  and  art  and 
trades  were  greatly  stimulated.  Painters,  carvers, 
and  shrine-makers  multiplied.  Education,  though 
not  yet  national,  grew  to  be  more  general.  Books 


THE  MIKADO  AND  HIS  SAMURAI  71 


became  less  rare ; manners  and  customs  were  im- 
proved. The  priests  were  often  real  civilizers, 
! making  roads,  sinking  wells,  maintaining  schools, 
|i  and  softening  manners.  One  of  them  introduced 
stick-ink  and  ink-stones,  and  the  use  of  millstones 
1 for  grinding. 

I The  most  striking  effect  of  the  new  faith  was 
I seen  in  the  court.  It  wrought  radical  political 
i effects,  for  in  time  it  came  to  pass  that  many  of 
the  Mikados,  who  had  become  zealous  Buddhists, 
left  the  throne  and  retired  to  cloisters,  while  the 
empresses  became  nuns.  Abdicating  their  author- 
ity, they  nominated  their  sons  to  the  throne.  It 
frequently  happened  that  the  heir  was  a mere 
child.  This  gave  the  ambitious  priests  and  nobles 
j at  the  court  the  opportunities  they  wanted  for 
carrying  out  their  own  schemes,  as  we  shall  see. 

Besides  the  great  change  in  religion,  art,  lite- 
rature, and  politics  wrought  by  Buddhism,  the 
form  of  government  was  modified  by  borrowing 
the  system  then  in  vogue  in  the  Chinese  empire. 
Japan  has  always  been  mightily  affected  by  China, 
and  has  borrowed  much  from  her  great  neighbor, 
though  usually  by  way  of  Corea.  The  famous 
Tang  dynasty  of  emperors,  one  of  the  longest 
and  most  brilliant  in  the  annals  of  China,  began 
its  course  in  A.  d.  618,  lasting  until  the  year  905. 
This  period  included  the  invention  of  printing  by 
blocks,  the  founding  of  the  Chinese  Imperial 
Library  and  Academy,  and  the  golden  age  of 


72 


JAPAN 


Chinese  literature.  The  laws  were  reduced  to 
codes,  the  official  orders  reformed,  and  the  form 
of  government  more  centralized.  Military  con- 
quests greatly  extended  the  frontiers  of  China. 
Commerce  with  the  Arabs  was  begun,  the  mari- 
ner’s compass  put  to  use  in  sea  voyages,  and 
porcelain  and  far-oriental  products  became  well 
known  among  them.  At  the  Chinese  imperial 
court  at  Singan,  embassies  from  Rome,  Nipal, 
Persia,  Thibet,  Corea,  and  Japan  had  audience  of 
the  emperor. 

The  Japanese  have  always  been  great  bor- 
rowers, thus  showing  their  intelligence  and  ap- 
preciation of  what  is  good.  Furthermore,  they 
usually  improve  upon  what  they  borrow.  As  they 
see,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  the  superiority  of 
the  civilization  of  Christendom  to  their  own,  so,  a 
thousand  or  more  years  ago,  they  perceived  that 
the  Chinese  methods  were  better  than  their  own. 
Laudably  they  determined  to  be  second  to  none, 
and  so  they  began  a system  of  reforms  which 
introduced  a political,  even  as  Buddhism  set  in 
motion  a religious,  revolution. 

In  the  most  ancient  times,  the  method  of  gov- 
ernment was  that  of  feudalism.  That  is,  all  the 
land  belonged  in  theory  to  the  Mikado,  by  whom 
it  was  feud  or  let  to  lords  or  tenants  on  condition 
of  service.  When  the  ground  was  cultivated, 
each  farm  was  divided  into  nine  parts,  eight 
being  for  the  local  lord  who  owned  or  employed 


THE  MIKADO  AND  HIS  SAMURAI 


73 


the  serfs  or  laborers  who  tilled  the  soil,  and  the 
ninth  part  being  cultivated  for  the  Mikado.  The 
tribute  rice  or  other  products  were  brought  to  the 
imperial  treasury  laden  on  horses  gayly  decked 
with  crimson  trappings  and  tinkling  bells,  and 
the  occasion  was  usually  a scene  of  festivity. 

This  old,  simple  feudalism  was  in  the  seventh 
century  abolished  (just  as  the  vastly  more  com- 
plex feudalism  was  swept  away  in  1871),  and  a 
new  governmental  system,  in  which  everything 
centred  in  the  capital,  came  into  vogue.  New 
orders  of  nobility  were  created.  In  the  nine 
ranks  there  were,  in  all,  thirty  grades.  Eight 
boards  or  departments  of  government  were 
created,  forming  the  Imperial  Cabinet.  These 
were  supervised  by  four  high  ministers,  who  also 
had  oversight  of  the  governors  who  were  sent  out 
from  the  kio  or  capital  to  rule  the  provinces, 
collect  the  taxes,  keep  order,  punish  the  violent, 
and  execute  the  laws.  Each  noble  or  officer  had 
a rank  which  was  separate  from  his  office.  At 
court,  where  etiquette  was  of  as  much  importance 
as  religion,  all  questions  were  settled  according  to 
precedence  in  rank. 

In  most  old  countries  the  two  dominant  castes 
are  those  of  the  priest  and  soldier.  In  Chinese 
Asia,  the  priest,  as  such,  has  not  relatively  the 
office  and  rank  held  in  Western  Asia  and  Europe. 
The  two  great  classes  are  the  civil  and  the  mili- 
tary. 


74 


JAPAN 


The  civil  officers  served  at  the  capital  or  in  the 
provinces.  The  military  classes  formed  the  army, 
the  militia,  and  the  reserve.  The  soldiers  of  the 
first  class  were  on  garrison  duty,  the  second  were 
called  out  when  rebellions  had  to  be  put  down, 
but  only  rarely  were  all  the  able-bodied  men 
under  arms.  At  first  the  business  of  soldier  and 
farmer  was  carried  on  by  the  same  man,  the 
spear  or  the  hoe  being  taken  up  as  occasion  re- 
quired. In  course  of  time,  however,  it  was  found 
best  to  separate  the  men  into  two  distinct  classes. 
The  strong  and  hardy,  especially  if  they  had 
money  and  horses  and  were  good  archers,  became 
professional  soldiers.  The  poorer  and  weaker 
men  were  left  to  till  the  soil  and  remain  farmers. 
Thus,  the  farmer  and  the  fighter  were  made  dis- 
tinct from  each  other,  and  the  military  class 
became  the  first  of  all  among  the  people.  Other 
classes  later  grew  up  until  they  numbered  four,  — 
soldier,  farmer,  mechanic,  trader ; and  these  were 
subdivided  into  eight,  but  the  soldier  was  the 
first  of  all. 

This  division  took  place  a thousand  years  ago, 
but  it  was  one  of  the  most  momentous  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  empire.  The  farmer  stayed  where  he 
\vas,  to  dig,  plant,  toil,  and  pay  taxes.  At  first 
only  the  guards  in  Kioto,  whose  business  it  was  to 
samurau  or  serve  the  Mikado  and  protect  the 
palace,  were  called  Samurai ; but  gradually  the 
name  was  taken  by  the  whole  military  class,  who 


THE  MIKADO  AND  HIS  SAMURAI  75 

from  this  time  forth  entered  upon  a career  of  de- 
velopment. War,  adventure,  the  cultivation  of 
manners,  refinement,  and  afterwards  of  learning, 
literature,  and  political  skill,  have  made  the  Sa- 
murai the  typical  progressive  Japanese.  In  our 
day  there  are  three  classes  in  J apan,  — nobles, 
gentlemen,  and  common  people.  The  Samurai 
are  the  gentlemen,  now  called  Shizoku.  From 
this  class  have  come  nearly  all  of  the  famous  men 
of  Japan  since  the  Middle  Ages,  while  in  our  day 
most  of  the  Japanese  students  in  America  and 
Europe  are  from  this  class.  These  young  men 
at  home  were  usually  trained  in  three  religions, 
and  to  understand  thoroughly  and  practice  skill- 
fully the  two  professions  of  arms  and  letters. 

Of  the  three  religions,  one  is  native  and  two 
were  imported.  Shinto,  or  the  Way  of  the  Gods, 
is  the  native  religion.  It  consists  of  the  worship 
of  nature  and  of  ancestors,  with  many  rules  about 
cleanliness  and  purity,  and  not  a few  picnics  and 
merry-makings.  Confucianism,  imported  from 
China,  teaches  obedience  and  faithfulness  to  em- 
peror, parents,  teachers,  and  all  superiors,  and 
makes  piety  or  filial  reverence  pretty  much  the 
same  as  religion.  Buddhism  inculcates  faith  and 
charity.  It  made  its  disciples  kind  to  the  poor 
and  to  the  animals.  In  a word,  “ Shintoism  fur- 
nishes the  object  of  worship,  Confucianism  offers 
the  rules  of  life,  and  Buddhism  supplies  the  way 
of  future  salvation.”  The  child  as  he  grew  up 


7G 


JAPAN 


had  constantly  before  his  eyes  the  emblems  of 
each  of  the  three  religions.  In  nearly  every 
Samurai’s  house  were  the  moral  books  of  Con- 
fucius, the  black  lacquered  wooden  tablets  in- 
scribed in  gold  with  the  Buddhist  names  of  his 
ancestors,  while  on  the  god-shelf  stood  the  idols 
and  symbols  of  Shinto.  Every  child  and  adult 
had  thus  many  things  to  worship)  ; the  sun,  moon, 
stars,  ancestors,  heroes,  images,  emblems,  animals, 
waters,  and  hundreds  of  other  things,  visible  and 
invisible. 

The  favorite  god  of  the  school  children  was  one 
called  Ten-jin,  or  Heavenly  Man.  The  ambition 
of  every  Samurai  boy  was  to  be  a good  penman 
and  scholar,  and  so  for  hundreds  of  years  the 
Japanese  children  have  prayed  to  Ten-jin  to  help 
them  to  master  the  difficult  Chinese  characters. 
How  he  came  to  be  a god,  and  to  receive  worship, 
we  shall  proceed  to  tell.  Most  of  the  millions 
of  Shinto  gods  were  made  in  like  manner.  The 
temples  in  his  honor  are  found  in  all  the  large 
cities  in  Japan. 

The  Sugawara  family  was  from  ancient  times 
famous  for  the  great  learning  of  its  members. 
The  emperor  Kwammu  (782-805),  who  took 
great  interest  in  education,  and  was  himself 
superintendent  of  the  University,  made  Sugawara 
Furuhito  his  tutor.  He  also  granted  salaries  and 
revenue  to  other  Sugawara  men  who  by  learning 
and  literature  obtained  and  held  an  honored  place 

f 


THE  MIKADO  AND  HIS  SAMURAI  77 


at  court.  The  school  for  the  practice  of  penman- 
ship and  the  study  of  the  Chinese  classics  and 
histories  was  founded  when  Kioto  was  first  made 
the  capital.  It  was  gradually  enlarged  and  made 
a university.  Here  flocked  the  young  men  whose 
ambition  was  to  enter  the  service  of  the  govern- 
ment. Here  the  Sugawara  teachers  made  a great 
^ reputation,  and  in  their  own  houses  gathered 
I large  and  famous  libraries.  Sugawara  Michizane 
was  th^  most  erudite  of  all  his  family.  He  once 
wrote  twenty  Japanese  stanzas,  on  twenty  different 
subjects,  while  eating  his  supper.  He  began  to 
write  Chinese  verses  at  the  age  of  eleven.  When 
the  envoy  from  China  visited  Kioto,  Michizane 
was  appointed  to  receive  and  communicate  with 
him. 

In  a book  written  A.  D.  893,  Michizane  describes 
his  study,  in  which  the  books  were  stored  in  three 
rows  of  cases  on  four  sides  of  his  room.  His 
students  were  so  well  trained  by  him  that  they 
usually  succeeded  in  the  competitive  civil  service 
. examinations,  and  were  more  numerously  ap- 
pointed to  office  than  the  pupils  of  other  teachers. 
More  than  one  hundred  of  them  were  taught  in 
his  study,  so  that  the  scholars  usually  called  this 
bookroom  Riu-mon,  or  Dragon  Gate.  In  Chinese 
folk-lore  the  carp,  by  leap  and  ascent  over  the 
waterfall,  turns  into  a dragon.  So  the  boy  who 
overcomes  difficulties  in  study  and  passes  hard 
examinations  wins  office,  rank,  and  fame.  The 


JAPAN 


78 


dragon  is  the  emblem  of  imperial  office.  Miclii- 
zane’s  works  number  twelve  volumes  of  poetry 
and  two  hundred  of  history. 

The  scholar  in  his  study  was  happy,  but  the 
scholar  in  politics  had  sorrow  and  trouble.  So 
long  as  Michizane  was  only  the  tutor  of  the 
emperor  Uda  (888-897),  or  was  busy  in  writing 
poetry  or  literature,  the  court  politicians,  thinking 
him  only  an  ordinary  “literary  fellow,”  were  not 
jealous  of  him.  When,  however,  the  Mikado 
Daigo  (898-930)  appointed  Michizane  the  junior 
prime  minister,  then  his  enemies,  the  Fujiwara 
nobles,  plotted  against  him.  One  of  them,  his  col- 
league, accused  him  to  the  emperor,  and  secured 
his  removal  to  Kiushiu  under  circumstances  that 
made  it  seem  banishment.  The  exiled  scholar 
spent  his  time  in  literary  labor,  and  made  himself 
beloved  by  all  the  people.  When  he  died  they 
built  a temple  to  his  memory  and  worshiped  him. 
The  Mikado  also  repented,  and  bestowed  on  Michi- 
zane the  posthumous  title,  Dai-jo-Dai-jin,  which 
is  the  highest  known  to  a subject.  In  the  Shinto^ 
religion  admitted  as  a god,  he  was  named  Ten- 
jin.  All  classes  from  the  noblest  to  the  humblest 
worship  him  with  divine  honors  as  a typical 
Japanese.  The  twenty-fifth  day  in  each  month, 
in  the  old  calendar,  was  a holiday  in  his  honor, 
and  often  on  these  occasions  an  imperial  mes- 
senger was  sent  to  do  obeisance  at  his  tomb.  He 
is,  in  a sense,  the  Confucius  of  Japan. 


THE  MIKADO  AND  HIS  SAMURAI  79 

Fine  manners  have  always  been  a fine  art  in 
Japan.  Long  before  Michizane’s  time  the  arts 
of  politeness  were  carefully  studied  at  court,  and 
among  the  upper  classes.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that 
as  early  as  the  seventh  century  there  were  manuals 
or  treatises  on  politeness.  These  were  studied  as 
])art  of  the  education  of  the  Samurai,  and  it  may 
truly  be  said  that  the  wonderful  polish  and  refine- 
ment of  manners  among  Japanese  are  the  fruits 
of  a thousand  years  of  culture.  Religion,  ethics, 
education,  literature,  and  experience  in  arms  pro- 
duced that  unique  specimen  of  a man,  the  Japa- 
nese Samurai.  In  the  romance,  drama,  and  art, 
which  refiect  actual  history,  the  heroes  and  hero- 
ines are  almost  invariably  of  Samurai  family. 
Even  now^  under  a written  constitution  and  a 
representative  government,  it  is  the  four  hundred 
thousand  adult  male  Samurai  who  rule  the  forty 
millions  of  people,  make  the  politics,  and  shape 
the  destinies  of  Tei  Koku  Nippon,  or  the  Land 
Ruled  by  a Divinely-descended  Dynasty. 


CHAPTER  X. 


LETTERS,  WRITING,  AND  NAMES. 

Before  the  advent  of  Buddhism,  with  its  whole 
train  of  civilizing  influences,  the  greatest  of  the 
importations  was  that  of  writing.  This  brought 
Japan  into  the  light  of  history. 

The  dividing  line  between  barbarism  and  civi- 
lization is  that  of  letters.  A man  is  no  longer 
a savage  when  he  can  write,  and  thus  record,  save 
up,  and  accumulate  knowledge.  Had  J apan  never 
received  letters,  she  might  still  be  as  Formosa, 
and  the  Japanese  as  the  Butan  savages  who  in- 
habit this  beautiful  island. 

Uncertain  tradition  gives  the  credit  of  the 
introduction  of  books  and  writing  to  a son  of 
the  king  of  Corea  named  Atogi,  who  came  on 
an  embassy  to  the  Mikado’s  court  in  the  fifteenth 
year  of  Ojin,  that  is,  about  A.  D.  286,  remaining 
one  year.  On  his  return,  by  invitation  of  the 
court,  a teacher  named  Wani  came  over  to  Japan. 
Some  say  he  was  a Chinese  from  the  kingdom  of 
Go.  He  crossed  the  sea,  and  introduced  the 
system  of  pronunciation  still  called  Go-on.  Many 
of  the  nobles  and  chief  men  now  began  to  study 
Chinese  books.  For  over  three  hundred  years  the 
Go-on  pronunciation  was  the  fashion. 


LETTERS,  WRITING,  AND  NAMES  81 


About  A.  D.  605  it  had  become  the  custom  for 
young  Japanese  students  to  go  over  to  China  and 
study  there,  as  American  lads  often  do  in  Europe. 
Five  young  men  who  had  spent  a year  at  what  is 
now  Singan,  in  Shensi  province,  China,  on  coming 
back  home  introduced  a new  style  of  pronuncia- 
tion, called  the  Kan-on.  After  twelve  hundred 
years  we  find  that  the  Kan-on  has  supplanted  the 
Go-on.  The  literary  and  scientific  men,  govern- 
ment officers  and  newspaper  editors  all  use  the 
Kan-on,  while  the  Buddhist  priests  and  common 
folk  still  employ  the  older  pronunciation.  The 
To-on,  another  method,  which  is  like  the  modern 
Mandarin  dialect  of  China,  is  but  little  used. 
These  changes  of  pronunciation  remind  us  that  in 
England  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  Latin,  and  the 
Norman  fashions  had  each  its  day,  before  modern 
English  was  formed. 

All  this  — that  is,  three  or  four  different  kinds 
of  pronunciation,  and  the  varying  forms  of  speech, 
differing  according  to  whether  language  is  spoken 
or  written,  uttered  by  inferiors  or  by  superiors  — 
makes  it  very  hard  for  a foreigner  to  learn  the 
Japanese  language  thoroughly. 

When  at  first  the  Japanese  began  to  write 
their  own  language,  it  was  to  them  very  much 
as  if  we  should  try  to  express  English  with  the 
characters  copied  from  a tea-box.  For  one  can 
write  English  with  the  Chinese  characters  as  well 
as  he  can  write  Japanese.  The  islanders  had  at 


82 


JAPAN 


first  a hard  time  of  it,  trying  in  clumsy  fashion 
to  make  the  strange  writing  stand  for  Japanese 
ideas  and  words.  It  was  a good  deal  like  training 
an  elephant  to  walk  on  his  hind  legs ; for  Japanese 
words  are  long  and  musical,  while  Chinese  words 
are  as  short  as  in  baby  talk.  The  way  they  did 
it  was  to  take  Chinese  letters  that  sounded  like 
or  something  like  Japanese,  and  make  them  do 
duty  for  their  own  vernacular.  This  was  very 
much  as  if  we  made,  the  different  parts  of  a 
charade  or  rebus  serve  our  purpose.  For  example, 
if  we  wished  to  write  such  a word  as  “tremen- 
dous,” and  should  make  a picture  of  a tree^  some 
men^  and  a dose  of  medicine,  serve  our  purpose, 
we  should  not  be  doing  very  differently  from  the 
early  Japanese.  Indeed,  the  first  attempts  at 
writing  of  nearly  all  ancient  nations  were  very 
much  like  trying  to  play  charades  on  paper ; 
only,  instead  of  its  being  fun,  it  was  slow  and 
toilsome  work.  Nevertheless,  the  Japanese  per- 
severed, and  their  first  books  were  all  written  in 
this  way,  that  is,  the  phonetic  way,  or  according 
to  sound.  Hence  the  Kojiki,  or  Japanese  Bible, 
though  expressed  in  Chinese  characters,  cannot  be 
read  by  a Chinaman,  any  more  than  we  could  read 
a telegram  in  cipher,  though  the  words  were  in 
English. 

Suppose  that  an  American  in  Europe  had  ar- 
ranged with  his  friends  in  New  Orleans  that  “ the- 
osophy ” should  mean  send,  “ capitulate  ” mean 


LETTERS,  WRITING,  AND  NAMES  83 

“Webster”  mean  ninety^  and  “cataract” 
mean  dollars.  Then  the  telegram,  “ Theosophy 
capitulate  Webster  cataract,”  would  be  inter- 
preted, “ Send  me  ninety  dollars.”  This  is  about 
the  way  the  Kojiki  is  written,  and  a literal  render- 
ing into  Japanese  makes  a jargon  just  like  a 
cipher  message.  Only  by  the  long  study  of  many 
scholars  have  its  secrets  been  unraveled.  Even 
yet  the  translation  of  many  of  the  sentences  is 
very  uncertain. 

Thus  it  happened  that  the  Japanese  letters 
took  the  form,  not  of  an  alphabet  in  which  each 
letter  stands  for  a sound,  but  of  a syllabary,  in 
which  each  letter  stands  for  a syllable.  There  is 
no  B,  C,  or  D,  etc.,  in  Japanese,  but  there  are  Ba, 
Be,  Bi,  Bo,  Bu  ; Da,  De,  Di,  Do,  Du,  etc.,  and 
the  syllabary  makes  forty-eight  letters.  By  means 
of  little  dots  or  marks  which  change,  for  example, 
ha  into  ha  and  seventythree  syllables  may  be 
represented.  Curiously  enough,  in  China,  Japan, 
and  Corea,  we  have  illustrations  of  the  only  three 
ways  in  which  language  is  written ; the  ideo- 
graphic, the  syllabic,  and  the  alphabetic.  The 
Chinese  use  characters,  the  Japanese  syllables, 
and  the  Coreans  letters. 

For  hundreds  of  years  the  Japanese  had  not 
even  a syllabary,  but  went  on  writing  laboriously 
the  Chinese,  doing  the  mighty  work  and  perform- 
ing the  heavy  tasks  which  an  alphabet  might  have 
saved  them.  Then  in  the  eighth  century,  just  a 


84 


JAPAN 


thousand  years  before  our  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, a nobleman  named  Kibi  invented  or 
perfected  the  system  of  borrowed  names  called 
kana.  This  meant  that  he  took  only  parts  of 
the  cumbrous  Chinese  characters  to  serve  for  let- 
ters, thus  saving  at  each  writing  from  two  to  ten 
strokes  of  the  brush  or  pen ; and  so  a set  of  forty- 
eight  side-letters,  as  they  are  called,  came  into  use. 
To  this  day,  these  are  used  in  dictionaries  to  spell 
foreign  names.  These  are  like  our  children’s 
letters  which  they  print  before  they  can  write.  To 
get  some  general  idea  of  what  they  are,  we  have 
only  to  look  at  f,  the  sign  for  “dollars,”  Ih,  for 
“ pound,”  &c.  for  “and  so  forth,”  or  to  the  many 
special  signs  used  in  almanacs,  astronomy,  proof- 
sheets,  music  books,  and  in  business  writing.  Yet 
the  kana  can  represent  exactly  neither  a Chinese 
nor  any  other  foreign  word.  When  the  results 
of  the  Republican  and  Democratic  conventions  of 
1884  were  telegraphed  from  the  United  States  to 
Japan,  the  newspapers  in  Tokio  announced  that 
the  American  presidential  candidates  were  Boo- 
ra-nii  and  Kee-ree-boo-ran-do,  that  is,  Blaine  and 
Cleveland  were  the  names  of  the  candidates.  This 
is  the  nearest  the  Japanese  could  come  in  their 
writing.  Double  letters  in  a foreign  language 
puzzle  both  the  speaker  and  the  writer.  When 
I lived  in  Echizen  my  name  was  usually  pro- 
nounced like  the  word  “ grease,”  or,  in  full,  Wee- 
ree-ya-mu  E-ri-yo-to  Gu-ree-su.  Another  varia- 


LETTERS,  WRITING,  AND  NAMES  85 

tiou  was  Gee-ree-wa-i-su.  As  tlie  Chinese  have 
no  “r,”  so  the  Japanese  have  no  “1.” 

Our  children  first  learn  the  printing  and  then 
the  writing  letters ; but  to  use  a pen  and  write 
quickly,  the  letters  must  be  run  or  joined  together. 
The  Chinese  call  these  “ grass  ” characters.  It 
was  a great  step  of  progress  when  the  clever  priest 
Kobo,  who  died  A.  d.  835,  invented  or  improved 
the  Mr  a kana  or  easy  letters,  by  which  one  could 
write  a long  word,  like  “ Onogoroshima,”  without 
lifting  the  pen  off  the  paper  of  the  copy-book. 
Kobo,  who  had  traveled  and  studied  in  China, 
was  so  learned,  and  was  such  a famous  fellow 
with  the  pen,  that  the  funny  artist  Hokusai  pic- 
tures him  as  writing  on  a tablet  with  five  brushes 
or  pens  all  going  at  once.  One  is  held  in  his 
mouth,  and  one  by  each  foot  and  hand.  This  is 
like  the  tradition  in  the  Koran,  that  Ezra,  the 
Jewish  scribe,  could  write  with  five  pens  in  his 
hand  at  once.  Kobo  has  also  the  credit  of  ar- 
ranging the  Japanese  syllabary,  or  i,  ro,  ha^  into 
the  form  of  a stanza. 

For  centuries  the  Japanese  children  have  read 
this  stanza  and  committed  it  to  memory.  It 
often  took  many  tears  and  many  prayers  to  Mi- 
chizan^,  or  Ten-jin,  for  the  little  fellows  to  master 
it,  and,  when  done,  it  expressed  a rather  gloomy 
thought.  Since  even  Kobo  had  to  do  some  twist- 
ing to  get  the  syllables  into  a form  of  Japanese 
doggerel  (for  it  is  not  real  poetry),  perhaps  we 


86 


JAPAN 


may  be  excused  for  hammering  them  into  an  Eng- 
lish jingle  : — 

Love  and  enjoyment  disappear  : 

What  in  our  world  enduretli  here  ? 

E’en  should  this  day  in  oblivion  be  rolled, 

’T  was  only  a vision  that  leaves  me  but  cold. 

For  many  centuries  books  were  composed  only 
in  Chinese  characters,  and  learning  was  confined 
chiefly  to  noblemen  and  people  about  the  court. 
In  modern  times,  books  for  the  people,  and  espe- 
cially women  and  children,  have  been  written  in 
hana^  which  all  can  understand. 

One  curious  effect,  largely  due  to  the  use  of 
writing  and  the  habit  of  spelling,  was  seen  in  the 
change  of  pronunciation  of  geographical  names. 
In  the  course  of  centuries,  even  before  the  habit 
of  writing  was  common,  the  old-time  names  of 
mountains,  rivers,  plains,  and  other  landmarks 
were  altered  into  the  modern  forms  which  we  now 
see  on  the  maps,  and  hear  on  Japanese  lips. 

Mr.  Skeat,  in  his  etymological  dictionary,  has 
pointed  out  the  enormous  influence  which  Eng- 
lish spelling  has  exerted  on  the  pronunciation  of 
names  and  words.  Of  course,  those  words  which 
are  used  every  day  do  not  change  in  sound, ‘but 
those  only  occasionally  spoken  will  sooner  or  later 
be  pronounced  as  they  are  written.  This  we  see 
in  English,  which  consists  so  largely  of  words 
which  have  come  down  from  our  Dutch  and  Ger- 
man ancestors,  or,  as  we  say,  “ Anglo-Saxons.” 


LETTERS,  WRITING,  AND  NAMES  87 

In  Japan,  such  a change  proceeded  with  ten- 
fold power  when,  by  the  imperial  order  and  in 
the  official  language,  the  geographical  names  were 
written  in  government  documents.  The  names 
j were  expressed  in  Chinese  characters,  but  these 
[ were  pronounced,  not  as  the  Chinese  pronounce 
' them,  but  only  as  Japanese  throats  and  lips  could 
utter  them.  Even  the  country  folks  had  to  speak 
, the  old  names  in  the  new  way.  When  they  could 
' not,  the  names  were  altered  to  a fresh  form.- 
Then  all  must  pronounce  in  the  standard  way,  or 
be  considered  vulgar  and  boorish. 

A kind  of  census  was  made,  and  an  encyclopae- 
dia or  gazetteer  of  all  the  known  places  in  the 
empire  was  compiled  by  order  of  the  emperor  as 
j early  as  the  eighth  century.  From  that  time 
forth,  the  polite  or  proper  pronunciation  of  the 
name  of  a place  was  that  used  at  the  court,  ac- 
cording to  the  characters  with  which  it  was  writ- 
ten. In  the  ninth  century,  when  the  kana  or  al- 
phabet came  into  use,  spelling,  or  expression  of  the 
separate  sounds  of  a word,  became  fashionable. 
Then  foreign  words  from  Corea  and  China,  or  the 
names  and  sounds  from  the  lips  of  the  distant 
savages  or  uncouth  people  up  in  Yezo,  could  be 
written.  Of  course  they  could  not  be  reproduced 
exactly  as  uttered,  but  they  were  pronounced  after 
a fashion  by  the  lords  or  ladies  of  the  court,  and 
this  court  or  scholar’s  pronunciation  became  the 
standard  one.  It  is  true  that  the  people  might 


88 


JAPAN 


use  the  local  names  of  mountains  or  rivers  some- 
what differently,  but  as  this  was  looked  at  by  the 
men  who  made  the  books,  laws,  and  literature  as 
vulgar,  the  written  form  gradually  but  surely  be- 
came the  correct  one.  In  the  course  of  centuries, 
many  of  the  unwritten,  aboriginal,  archaic,  and 
local  pronunciations  would  also  change.  Thus  it 
happens  that  the  old  Ainu  names  of  mountains  or 
rivers,  places  and  landmarks,  can  hardly  be  recog- 
nized in  the  modern  names  given  them. 

A fresh  element  of  trouble  to  the  student  arises 
from  the  fact  that  the  Chinese  characters,  first 
used  to  write  the  names,  were  chosen  only  for  their 
sounds  ; but  now,  being  accepted  for  their  meaning, 
confusion  reigns  and  the  old  Ainu  meaning  is  lost. 
This,  however,  gives  the  Japanese  an  opportunity 
for  endless  discussions,  jokes,  and  puns.  Often  it 
is  as  though  one  acted  a charade,  or  wrote  a rebus 
by  making  a picture  of  a dog,  a mat,  an  eye,  and 
a girl,  and  pronounced  it  “ dog-mat-i-gal,”  thus  de- 
riving the  Greek  word  “ dogmatical.”  One  may 
here  recall  De  Quincey’s  mock  derivation  of 
“Alexander  the  Great”  from  “all -eggs  in  the 
grate  ” ! In  spite  of  their  changed  form  and  sound, 
the  geographical  names,  like  those  given  by  the  red 
Indians  to  Wachusett  or  Niagara  in  America,  are 
the  oldest  of  all.  What  the  original  meaning  of 
many  of  the  province  names  is,  not  even  the  most 
learned  J apanese  scholars  can  tell ; but  while  they 
are  modestly  dumb,  folks  who  go  by  the  Chinese 


LETTERS,  WRITING,  AND  NAMES  89 

characters  and  have  a smattering  of  learning  offer 
all  sorts  of  explanations. 

The  people  ^conquered  by  Yamato  Dake  were 
then  called  Emishi,  which  is  the  same  as  the 
modern  word  Yebisii.  The  letters  M and  B are 
about  the  same  in  Japanese.  All  eastern  Japan 
was  anciently  called  Yezo,  or  the  uncivilized  re> 
gion,  a name  now  applied  to  the  great  northern 
island.  Kuanto,  or  the  Broad  East,  another  name 
anciently  given,  is  still  used.  It  means  that  part 
of  Japan  east  of  Kioto,  and  especially  east  of  the 
great  mountain-chain  which  may  be  called  the 
spinal  column  of  Hondo. 

After  Kioto  had  been  made  the  capital,  the 
provinces  were  named  with  reference  to  their 
situation  to  the  front  or  back  of  the  imperial  city. 
So  we  find,  among  the  fourteen  old  provinces  with 
names  ending  in  zen  or  go  — that  is,  fore  or  be- 
hind, front  or  rear  — several  pairs,  such  as  Hizen 
and  Higo,  Uzen  and  Ugo.  There  are  also  several 
groups  of  three,  which  besides  the  endings  zen 
and  go  have  the  middle  term  chiu^  which  means 
‘‘  central.”  Thus  Echizen  is  the  Echi  (or  the 
sunny  place)  fronting  Kioto ; Etchiu,  the  Echi 
in  the  middle ; and  Echigo,  the  Echi  at  the 
rear.  Others  end  in  no,  which  means  “ moor  ” or 
“ plain  ” ; in  ^o,  “ road,  or  “ path  ” ; in  yama^ 
“ mountain.”  Others,  in  addition  to  the  old  native 
name,  now  more  or  less  obscured,  have  a second 
or  alternate  form  ending  in  shiu^  a Chinese  word, 


90 


JAPAN 


as  Satsuma  or  Sasshiu ; Nagato  or  Choshm,  — 
nag  a and  cJio  both  meaning  “ long.” 

The  whole  empire  was  arranged  into  or  re- 
gions, like  our  Eastern,  Middle,  Southern,  or 
Western  States.  First  of  all  came  the  Gokinai, 
or  five  home  provinces,  the  old  ancestral  seats  of 
the  Yamato  clan,  in  which  are  the  old  capital  and 
graves  of  the  Mikados,  and  out  of  the  soil  of 
which  the  oldest  antiquities  are  dug  up  for  the 
museums.  Next  comes  the  Tokaido,  or  Eastern 
Sea  region,  in  which  are  fourteen  provinces  facing 
the  sparkling  waves  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The 
Tokaido  stretches  from  the  old  homeland  to  Hita- 
chi, which  is  north  of  Tokio,  and  in  which  is  the 
famous  city  of  Mito. 

Northward  from  the  Tokaido,  and  running 
between  the  great  'central  mountains  and  the 
sea,  is  the  Tozando  or  Eastern  Mountain  region. 
Coming  down  on  the  west  and  colder  side  of 
Hondo,  the  Hokurikudo,  or  North  region,  lies 
between  the  mountains  and  the  sea.  Thence  we 
still  go  southward,  and,  fronting  China,  we  keep 
in  the  Mountain  Back  region,  that  is,  in  the 
shade  of  the  morning  sun.  If  we  were  on  the 
strip  of  provinces  fronting  the  Inland  Sea  and  the 
east,  we  should  be  in  the  Mountain  Front,  or 
sunny  side. 

Of  those  six  provinces  most  of  which  are 
scoured  by  the  Black  Current,  four  are  in 
Shikoku.  They  are  named  the  Southern  Sea 


LETTERS,  WRITING,  AND  NAMES 


91 


region.  All  the  nine  countries  of  Kiushiu  Island 
are  called  collectively  the  Western  Sea  region. 
Then  there  are  the  “ Two  Islands,”  Iki  and 
Tsushima.  Further  down,  in  the  sunny  south, 
is  the  Riu  Kiu  group  of  islands,  the  old  “ Eternal 
Land”  of  Japanese  mythology.  The  group  called 
Okinawa,  or  the  Long.  Rope,  is  literally  the  tail- 
end  of  the  empire,  while  up  in  the  Northern  Sea 
region  are  the  storm-swept  and  foggy  Thousand 
Islands  stretching  to  Kamschatka. 

Another  practice  fostered  by  the  art  of  writing 
was  the  bestowal  and  use  of  posthumous  titles 
upon  famous  persons.  In  the  eighth  century, 
when  the  old  legends,  songs,  poems,  and  liturgies 
were  committed  to  writing,  the  first  Mikados, 
gods,  heroes,  and  renowned  ancestors  received 
high-sounding  names,  which  henceforth  became 
common  in  conversation.  It  must  not  be  sup- 
posed that  the  people  who  saw  and  fought  or 
hunted  with  Jiinmu  Tenno  ever  heard  of  such  a 
name  or  title  ; but,  a thousand  years  or  more 
after  his  death,  or  at  least  after  the  time  in  which 
he  is  supposed  to  have  lived,  this  title  was  in- 
vented, being  composed,  like  most  if  not  all  of 
such  posthumous  names,  of  Chinese  terms  mispro- 
nounced by  Japanese. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE  NOBLE  FAMILIES  AND  THEIR  POLITICS. 

In  the  early  centuries  the  sons  and  descendants 
of  the  Mikados  had  no  special  family  names.  In 
China  it  is  the  rule  that  in  every  generation  a 
step  lower  is  made,  until  in  the  ninth  generation 
the  descendants  of  the  emperor  mingle  with  the 
people.  In  early  Japan,  the  families  of  impe- 
rial blood  took  the  general  name  of  O,  meaning 
“king”  or  “royal,”  which  name  was  dropped 
after  the  fourth  generation. 

After  this,  special  names,  like  those  of  Tachi- 
bana,  Sugawara,  Fujiwara,  Minamoto,  Taira,  etc., 
were  bestowed  by  order  of  the  emperor.  In  the 
development  of  their  history  it  was  seen  that 
certain  employments,  duties,  offices,  and  profes- 
sions became  hereditary  in  particular  families. 
Literature  and  education  were  monopolized  by 
the  Sugawara  and  Oye,  law  and  jurisprudence  by 
the  Miyoshi  and  Kotsiiki,  medicine  by  the  Waga 
and  Niwa  families.  There  were  other  families 
still  more  famous  in  war  and  politics. 

The  most  renowned  line  of  soldiers  w^as  that  of 
the  Minamoto.  The  founder  of  this  family  or 
clan  was  Tsunemoto.  He  was  the  grandson  of 


NOBLE  FAMILIES  AND  THEIR  POLITICS  93 

the  Mikado  Seiwa  (839-880).  The  Minamoto 
family  crest  is  made  by  arranging  three  gentian 
flowers  above  the  same  number  of  bamboo  leaves. 
Their  battle  standard  was  a white  flag,  and  their 
favorite  color  was  white.  Many  noble  families, 
and  all  the  great  Shoguns  and  Tycoons  who 
afterwards  ruled  at  Kamakura  or  Yezo,  claimed 
descent  from  the  first  Minamoto,  and  after  A.  D. 
1192  no  one  could  be  a commander-in-chief  or 
general  unless  he  were  of  this  stock.  The  shorter 
or  Chinese  form  of  the  name  is  Genji.  The 
Genji  grew  to  be  a mighty  clan  of  many  thou- 
sands of  adherents,  like  those  of  the  White  Rose 
in  English  history. 

The  Taira  was  also  a military  family.  The 
Chinese  form  of  the  name  is  Heike.  Their  crest 
was  a butterfly,  and  their  color  or  banner  was  red. 
The  family  was  founded  by  Takamochi,  a great- 
grandson  of  the  Mikado  K warn  mu  (782-805). 
In  the  twelfth  century,  when  at  the  height  of 
their  power,  they  numbered  many  thousands,  like 
those  of  the  Red  Rose  of  England.  Like  the 
rival  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster,  the  whites 
and  reds,  or  Genji  and  Heike,  were  rivals  and  at 
feud. 

Gradually,  also,  a system  of  heraldry  was  de- 
veloped, and  each  of  the  noble  families  had  crests 
or  badges.  By  intermarriage,  these  crests  grew 
to  be  something  like  European  coats-of-arms.  As, 
however,  the  Japanese  fought  with  two-handed 


94 


swords,  they  could  not  use  shields.  Hence  the 
blazonry  so  complex  in  Europe,  and  which  the 
knights  usually  quartered  on  their  shields,  was 
with  the  Japanese  chivalry  very  simple.  Usually 
it  consisted  of  a flower,  an  animal,  or  some  simple 
device  easily  recognized. 

Of  the  families  celebrated  for  their  civic  abili- 
ties, the  Fujiwara  was  the  most  conspicuous.  The 
name  means  Wistaria-meadow,  and  was  granted  to 
their  ancestor  in  the  year  670.  This  pretty  blue 
flower,  now  common  in  our  country  as  a house  or 
wall  vine,  blooms  in  May  before  its  leaves  are 
developed.  The  first  syllables  of  the  native  name 
sound  like  those  of  the  mountain  Fuji,  or  Fuji 
Yama,  and  the  foreign  name  is  from  that  of  Dr. 
Wistar,  of  Philadelphia.  The  Fujiwara  fam- 
ily was  founded  by  Nakatomi,  an  adviser  of  the 
Mikado,  said  also  to  have  built  a storehouse  at 
Kamakura.  There  are  now  five  families  nearest 
the  imperial  family  itself,  and  from  which  the  em- 
press is  taken,  that  are  descended  from  the  original 
Fujiwara  stock.  Unlike  the  Minamoto  and  Taira, 
the  Fujiwara  nobles  never  coveted  land  or  military 
honors,  and  so  were  not  subject  to  feuds  or  wars. 

\Ye  have  told  of  the  Sugawara  line  of  scholars. 
Another  famous  family  is  the  Tachibana,  founded 
A.  D.  736,  from  which  the  tutors  of  the  imperial 
children  have  usually  been  chosen.  There  are 
other  noble  families  who  are  descended  from 
Mikados,  and  were  formerly  called  kuge^  or  court 


NOBLE  FAMILIES  AND  THEIR  POLITICS  95 

nobles ; but  the  four  families  mentioned  are  the 
most  famous  in  history. 

While  the  leading  men  of  the  Genji  and  Heike 
were  usually  far  away  from  the  capital,  fighting 
savages  and  extending  the  boundaries  of  the 
Mikado’s  empire,  the  Fujiwara  men  became  the 
successful  politicians  at  home  in  the  palace.  Put- 
ting in  practice  the  American  motto  that  “ to  the 
victors  belong  the  spoils,”  they  filled  most  of  the 
offices  with  their  sons  and  nephews.  Further, 
they  acted  very  much  as  successful  political  par- 
ties do  everywhere.  Not  satisfied  with  having 
their  relations  in  the  offices  already  in  existence, 
they  created  new  ones  for  the  men  of  their  clan. 

In  the  year  888,  the  title  of  Kuambaku,  the 
highest  in  the  land,  was  created  and  conferred  on 
a Fujiwara  noble.  The  word  refers  to  the  bolt 
on  the  inside  of  a door,  and  this  Japanese  Saint 
Peter  could  thus  pull  back  the  bolt  and  admit 
to  the  Son  of  Heaven  only  those  whom  he  was 
pleased  to  favor.  Only  on  the  throne  was  the 
Mikado  greater.  It  was  not  long  before  this 
great  office  was  made  hereditary  in  the  Fujiwara 
family.  Their  ambition  made  them  dictators  of 
the  throne,  which  in  time  they  practically  owned. 
This  success  they  secured  by  marrying  their 
daughters  to  the  Mikados,  and  for  centuries  the 
empi*esses  were  of  Fujiwara  blood. 

We  must  not,  however,  suppose  that  all  the 
Genji  and  Heike  were  soldiers,  or  that  every 


96 


JAPAN  . 


Fujiwara  courtier  was  a politician.  On  the  con- 
trary, many  famous  authors  and  artists  bore  these 
names.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  as  early  as 
the  seventh  century  the  art  of  painting  was  well 
established  at  Nara,  and  that  by  the  tenth  century 
the  native  style,  so  brilliant  in  color  and  often  as 
fine  as  miniature-painting,  more  like  the  Persian 
than  the  Chinese,  and  called  the  Yamato  or  pure 
Japanese  method,  was  the  reigning  fashion.  This 
is  well  proved  by  the  novel  called  the  Genji 
Monogatari,  in  which  the  lady  author  describes 
the  competition  of  the  painters  and  the  award  of 
the  judges. 

Probably  the  first  and  greatest  of  the  early 
native  painters  was  Kanaoka,  who  painted  the 
portraits  of  Chinese  sages  and  Buddhist  saints, 
besides  landscapes,  figures,  and  horses.  Although 
few  of  his  great  works  have  survived,  his  fame  is 
kept  alive  even  in  the  mouths  of  the  common 
people  by  those  legends  which  the  monks  and 
story-tellers  so  loved  to  tell.  It  is  said  of  a horse 
painted  on  a screen  in  a temple  near  Kioto,  by 
Kanaoka,  that  at  night  it  would  quit  its  frame 
and  gallop  wildly  over  the  farmers’  rice-fields. 
The  country  folks  found  out  the  devastator  of 
their  land  by  noticing  the  mud  that  clung  to  the 
hoofs  in  the  picture.  They  put  out  the  eyes  of 
the  picture,  and  after  that  Kanaoka’s  horse  made 
no  more  night  excursions.  Another  of  the  same 
artist’s  painted  horses  had  the  habit  of  roaming 


NOBLE  FAMILIES  AND  THEIR  POLITICS  97 


in  the  imperial  treasury  gardens,  and  eating  up 
the  plant  we  call  the  Japan  clover.  In  this  case, 
instead  of  blinding  the  painted  creature,  it  was 
fastened  within  its  frame  by  painting  a halter. 
Other  similar  stories  tell  of  a cuckoo,  painted  on  a 
fan,  which  uttered  a note  every  time  the  fan  was 
opened ; of  Tsunenori’s  lion,  that  made  the  dogs 
bark  and  fly  at  it ; and  of  Sesshiu’s  rats,  changed 
/ from  ink  and  water  into  scampering  bits  of  flesh 
I and  blood.  Even  the  old  story  of  the  fight  be- 
' tween  the  lion  and  the  unicorn  has  its  parallel  in 
1 Japan.  The  carved  wooden  lion  and  the  Koma- 
inu  or  Corean  dog  — a hideous  creature  seen  in 
stone  in  front  of  Shinto  temples  — once  fell  to 
quarreling,  one  knocking  the  other  down  to  the 
ground.  Stories  like  these  are  told  about  many 
famous  statues,  pictures,  carvings,  swords,  writ- 
ings, and  indeed  about  almost  all  things  that  are 
considered  works  of  art  in  Japan. 

Between  politicians  and  priests,  and  their  own 
desire  to  cultivate  art,  the  Mikados  had  little 
to  do  with  actual  government.  Often  they  were 
mere  boys ; or,  after  reigning  a few  years,  they 
shaved  off  their  hair  and  became  cloistered  monks. 
Often  they  had  personal  ambition  to  become  ar- 
tists. Some  lived  privately  in  debauchery.  Many 
of  them  spent  their  days  in  the  study  of  Buddh- 
ism, and  in  the  enjoyment  and  patronage  of  art 
and  letters.  As,  however,  the  emperor  became  of 
less  importance  as  a person  or  a ruler,  his  honors 


98 


JAPAN 


and  dignity  were  magnified  to  the  common  people, 
to  whom  he  became  gradually  invisible.  He  lived 
behind  a curtain,  and  was  seen  only  by  his  wives 
and  women  of  the  court,  and  by  his  high  ministers. 
His  feet  were  supposed  never  to  touch  the  earth. 
To  common  folks  he  was  a god.  Ev^en  when  he 
rode  out  to  see  the  flowers  or  a waterfall,  or  to 
attend  a poetry  party  with  his  courtiers,  the  cha- 
riot or  cart,  drawn  by  bullocks,  was  closed  with 
curtains  made  of  bamboo ; and  the  place  where 
he  lunched  or  wrote  verses  was  inclosed  with 
woven  stuff.  In  short,  the  real  power  of  govern- 
ment was  in  the  hands  of  the  courtiers  of  the 
palace,  while  that  of  the  emperor  was  very  nearly 
a cipher. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  KIOTO. 

Social  life  in  Kioto  was  the  standard  for  that 
in  good  society  everywhere  throughout  the  empire. 
Etiquette  was  cultivated  with  almost  painful  ear- 
nestness, and  the  laws  about  costume  were  equally 
rigid.  Tea  was  introduced  into  Japan  by  a 
Buddhist  priest  in  the  year  805,  and  soon  became 
a common  drink.  The  oldest  tea  plantations  and 
the  most  luscious  leaves  are  at  Oji,  near  Kioto. 
The  preparation  and  serving  of  the  beverage  were 
matters  upon  which  much  attention  was  bestowed. 
The  making  of  cups,  dishes,  and  all  facilities  for 
drinking  was  greatly  stimulated  by  the  use  of  the 
hot  drink,  and  when  the  potter’s  wheel  was  brought 
over  from  Corea  the  ceramic  art  entered  upon  a 
new  era  of  development. 

Flowers  and  gardens  were  much  enjoyed,  and 
visits  of  ceremony  were  many  and  prolonged. 
The  invention  of  the  fan  was  not  at  first  thought 
to  be  an  aid  to  good  manners,  but  it  soon  won  its 
way  to  favor.  As  early  as  the  seventh  century  it 
came  into  use  for  personal  comfort.  In  course 
of  time  the  fan  developed  into  many  varieties. 
The  hiKje^  or  court  nobles,  had  one  kind,  and  the 


100 


JAPAN 


court  ladies,  with  their  long  hair  sweeping  down 
their  back  to  their  feet  and  arrayed  in  white  and 
crimson  silk,  had  another.  In  art,  we  see  that 
the  Dragon-queen  of  the  Under-world  holds  a flat 
fan  with  double  wings.  The  long-nosed  King  of 
the  Tengus,  or  mountain  sprites,  who  is  said  to 
have  taught  Yoshitsune  his  wisdom  and  secrets 
of  power,  holds  a fan  exactly  like  the  old  pulpit 
feather  fans  which  it  once  was  thought  proper  for 
clergymen  to  make  use  of.  The  judges  at  wres- 
tling matches  flourish  a peculiar  sort,  while  in  war 
the  wight  who  received  a thwack  over  the  noddle 
with  the  huge  iron-boned  fan  might  lie  in  gore. 
The  firemen  of  Kioto,  and  the  men  in  the  proces- 
sion in  honor  of  the  Sun  Goddess  at  Ise,  carry 
fans  that  would  cool  the  face  of  a giant. 

The  earliest  fans  were  all  of  the  flat  kind,  but 
in  the  seventh  century  it  is  said  that  a man  of 
Tamba,  seeing  that  bats  could  fold  their  wings, 
imagined  that  the  motion  and  effect  could  be  imi- 
tated. Accordingly  he  made  the  ogi^  or  fan  that 
opens  and  shuts.  This  was  a great  advantage, 
securing  economy  in  space  and  ease  of  use.  An- 
other story  declares  that  when  the  widow  of  a 
young  Taira  noble,  slain  in  the  civil  wars,  retired 
to  a temple  to  hide  her  grief,  she  cured  the  abbot 
of  a fever  by  fanning  him.  Folding  a piece  of 
paper  in  plaits  and  then  opening  it  out,  mutter- 
ing incantations  the  while,  the  lady  brought  great 
prosperity  to  the  temple,  for  thereafter  the  priests 


SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  KIOTO 


101 


excelled  in  makino-  foldinof  fans.  From  the  sale 
of  these  novelties  a steady  revenue  flowed  into 
the  temple.  In  time  the  name  of  this  temple  was 
adopted  by  fan-makers  all  over  the  country.  As 
a shelter  of  the  face  or  bare  head  from  the  sun,  — 
for  hats  and  bonnets  were  not  fashionable  in  Old 
J apan,  — for  use  as  trays  or  salvers  to  hand 
flowers,  letters,  or  presents  to  friends  or  to  one’s 
master,  as  thoughtful  defenses  against  one’s  breath 
while  talking  to  superiors,  and  for  a thousand 
polite  uses,  to  say  nothing  of  its  value  as  an  arti- 
cle of  dress,  the  folding  fan  is  a distinctly  Jitpa- 
nese  gift  to  civilization.  It  had  many  centuries 
of  history  and  honor  in  Japan  before  the  Chinese 
borrowed  the  invention.  In  the  caste  of  fashion 
the  flat  fan,  which  too  often  sank  to  the  level  of  a 
dustpan,  grain-winnower,  or  fire-blower,  is  in  the 
lowest  grade. 

The  chief  food,  as  well  as  the  ceremonial  drink, 
came  from  rice.  This  grain  was  imported  from 
Corea,  and  very  early  became  the  standard  article 
of  diet  among  the  upper  classes.  The  Japanese 
have  never  yet  learned  to  like  bread,  nor  is  rice 
usually  the  food  of  the  poorer  people.  The  best 
rice  is  raised  in  Higo.  It  is  cooked,  served,  and 
flavored  in  a great  variety  of  ways,  and  many 
extracts  and  preparations,  such  as  gluten,  sugar, 
ame  or  “ honey,”  and  alcohol,  are  made  from  it. 
The  making  of  sake,  by  which  we  mean  beer, 
wine,  or  brandy  made  from  rice,  is  as  old  as  the 


102 


JAPAN 


first  commerce  with  Corea.  It  was  the  favorite 
drink  of  Japanese  men  and  gods.  The  festivals  in 
celebration  of  the  planting,  reaping,  and  offering 
of  rice  in  the  sheaf,  or  hulled  and  cleaned,  and 
of  the  fermentation  or  presentation  of  the  liquor 
to  the  gods,  form  a notable  feature  in  the  Shinto 
religion. 

This  sake  or  brewed  rice  was  the  drink  enjoyed 
at  feasts,  poetry  parties,  picnics,  and  evening  gath- 
erings. Like  tea,  it  was  heated  and  drunk  when 
hot.  Besides  the  pleasures  of  music,  poetry,  and 
literature,  cards,  checkers,  games  of  skill  and 
chance,  of  many  kinds,  even  to  the  sniffing  of 
perfumes,  helped  the  hours  of  leisure  to  pass 
pleasantly. 

Outdoor  sports  were  also  diligently  cultivated 
by  these  elegantly  dressed  lords  and  ladies  of  the 
capital.  The  ladies  amused  themselves  by  catch- 
ing fire-flies  and  various  brilliantly  colored  or 
singing  insects,  by  feeding  the  goldfish  in  the 
garden  ponds,  or  viewing  the  moon  and  the  land- 
scape. The  delights  of  the  young  men  were  in 
horsemanship,  archery,  foot-ball,  and  falconry. 
The  art  of  training  falcons  to  hunt  and  kill  the 
smaller  or  defenseless  birds  was  copied  from 
Corea,  and  has  been  practiced  in  Japan  some- 
what over  a thousand  years.  Cock-fights,  dog- 
matches,  and  fishing  by  means  of  cormorants  were 
also  common.  A method  of  racing  and  shooting 
from  horseback  at  dogs,  with  blunt  arrows,  was 


SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  KIOTO 


103 


cultivated  for  the  sake  of  skill  in  riding.  Polo  is 
said  to  have  come  from  Persia  into  China  and 
thence  to  Japan,  where  it  is  called  ball-striking, 
or  da-kiu.  A polo  outfit  with  elegant  costume 
and  the  liveliest  of  ponies  was  costly,  so  that  polo, 
like  hawking,  was  always  an  aristocratic  game. 
The  Warrior’s  Dance  has  been  described  as  a 
“giant  quadrille  in  armor.”  The  more  robust 
and  exciting  exercise  of  hunting  the  boar,  deer, 
bear,  and  other  wild  animals  was*often  indulged 
in  by  the  military  men  in  time  of  peace,  in  order 
to  keep  up  their  vigor  and  discipline.  In  hunt- 
ing, the  bold  riders  and  footmen  could  have  some- 
thing like  the  excitement  of  war  with  only  a small 
amount  of  its  danger. 

This  curious  social  life  in  old  Kioto  is  quite 
fully  shown  in  .J apanese  art,  in  books  and  pictures, 
and  the  theatre,  and  is  a favorite  subject  for  the 
poets,  novelists,  and  artists.  On  fans,  paper  nap- 
kins, lacquer  ware,  carved  ivories,  bronzes,  sword- 
hilts,  and  all  the  rich  and  strange  art-works  of  Old 
Japan,  this  court  life  can  be  pleasantly  studied. 
It  was  a state  of  things  which  existed  before  feu- 
dalism came  in  completely  to  alter  the  face  of  the 
Mikado’s  empire,  and  before  Chinese  learning, 
pedantry,  and  literary  composition  cramped  the 
native  genius.  He  who  understands  the  method 
and  meaning  of  the  artist  has  a great  fund  of 
enjoyment.  The  painter  and  carver,  or  even  the 
decorator  on  a five-cent  fan,  tells  his  tale  well,  and 


104 


JAPAN 


one  who  knows  Japanese  life  from  its  ancient  and 
mediaeval  literature,  as  well  as  by  modern  travel 
and  study,  needs  no  interpreter. 

Best  of  all,  however,  life  in  the  Mikado’s  capital 
is  reflected  in  the  classic  Action  written  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  mostly,  by  ladies  of  the  court. 
From  a literary  point  of  view,  the  women  of 
Japan  did  more  to  preserve  and  develop  their 
native  language  than  the  men.  The  masculine 
scholars  used  Ohinese,  and  composed  their  books 
in  what  was  as  Latin  to  the  mass  of  the  people. 
The  lady  writers  employed  their  own  beautiful 
speech,  and  such  famous  monogatari^  or  novels,  as 
the  Sagamoro,  Genji,  Ise,  and  others,  besides  hun- 
dreds of  volumes  of  poetry  in  pure  classical  Japa- 
nese, are  from  their  pens.  A number  of  famous 
novels,  the  oldest  of  which  is  the  Old  Bamboo- 
cutter’s  Story,  which  dates  from  the  tenth  century, 
picture  the  life  and  work,  the  loves  and  adven- 
tures, of  the  lads  and  lasses,  priests  and  warriors, 
lords  and  ladies,  in  this  extremely  refined,  highly 
polished,  and  very  licentious  society  of  Kioto  a 
thousand  years  or  less  ago.  Those  who  would 
study  it  carefully  must  read  Mr.  Chamberlain’s 
“ Classical  Poetry  of  the  Japanese,”  or  Mr.  Suyd- 
matsu’s  “ Genji  Monogatari.”  Miss  Harris’s  “ Log 
of  a Japanese  Journey  ” is  a rendering  in  English 
of  the  Tosa  Niki,  or  diary  of  the  voyage  from 
Tosa  to  Kioto  of  the  famous  poet  Tsurayuki. 

The  Tosa  Niki  book  is  a great  favorite  with 


SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  KIOTO 


105 


native  students  on  account  of  its  beauty  of  style. 
Tsurayuki  was  appointed  by  the  Mikado  to  be 
governor  of  Tosa.  After  serving  four  years  he 
starts  homeward  for  Kioto  by  ship  and  carriage, 
or  rather  by  junk  and  bullock-cart.  He  left  Tosa 
in  January,  A.  D.  935,  and  the  diary  of  his  voyage 
is  written  in  woman’s  style  of  writing,  that  is,  in 
pure  Japanese.  He  calls  himself  a certain  per- 
son,” and  is  a jolly  good-natured  fellow ; always, 
when  opportunity  serves,  writing  poetry  and  en- 
joying the  sake-cup.  As  Japanese  junks  usually 
wait  for  the  wind,  sail  only  in  the  daytime,  or  at 
least  not  all  night,  and  keep  out  of  storms  if  pos- 
sible, he  stopped  at  many  places,  where  official 
friends  called  upon  him,  and  presents  were  ex- 
changed, cups  of  sake  drunk,  and  poems  written. 
Most  of  the  presents  had  verses  tied  to  them,  but 
the  pheasants  had  a flowering  branch  of  the  plum 
tree  attached.  We  translate  a stanza:  — 

“As  o’er  the  waves  ye  urge, 

While  roars  the  whit’ning  surge, 

Louder  shall  rise  my  cry 
That  left  behind  am  I,  — ” 

whereat  the  traveler  notes  in  his  diary  that  the 
poet  must  have  a pretty  loud  voice.  He  tells  of 
the  storks  and  the  fir-trees  which  have  been  com- 
rades for  a thousand  years ; how  the  passengers 
went  ashore  at  one  place  to  take  a hot  bath  ; how 
a sailor  caught  a ^a^,  or  splendid  red  fish,  for  his 
dinner ; jests  at  the  bush  of  the  man  in  the  moon  ; 


106 


JAPAN 


throws  his  metal  mirror  into  the  sea  to  quiet  the 
storm  raised  by  the  god  of  Sumi-Yoshi ; escapes 
the  pirates,  with  whom  he  had  as  governor  dealt 
very  severely ; and  completes  his  sea  journey, 
not  at  Osaka,  which  did  not  then  exist,  but  at 
Yamazaki,  near  the  capital.  There  he  waits  for 
a bidlock-car  to  come  from  Kioto,  which  he  must 
of  course  enter  in  state  as  becomes  a huge^  or 
noble. 

This  charming  little  book  shows  first  that  human 
nature  in  Japan  a thousand  years  ago  was  won- 
derfully like  that  of  to-day  in  Japan,  or  anywhere 
else  ; that  good  style  will  make  a book  live  as 
long  as  the  rocks ; and  that  in  those  days  the 
spoken  idiom  differed  very  little  from  the  lan- 
guage employed  in  literature.  Brave  Tsurayuki ! 
He  wrote  in  “ woman’s  style  ” really  because  he 
loved  his  native  tongue,  and  did  not  want  to  see 
it  overlaid  by  the  Chinese.  In  our  days  not  a 
few  Japanese  are  heartily  ashamed  that  their 
own  beautiful  language  has  not  been  more  devel- 
oped by  scholars.  So  much  dependence  on  China 
has  paralyzed  originality  and  weakened  intellect. 
After  fifteen  hundred  years,  the  patriotic  Japa- 
nese feels  ashamed  that  the  literary  and  intellec- 
tual product  of  his  country  is  so  small,  and  that 
the  best  work  in  his  native  tongue  has  been  done 
by  women.  No  wonder  he  does  not  always  take 
kindly  to  the  fulsome  flatteries  of  Europeans  who 
tell  him  what  a wonderful  fellow  he  is,  and  how 


SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  KIOTO 


107 


much  superior  Japanese  civilization  is  to  that  of 
Europe  ! How  he  really  feels  about  the  matter 
is  shown  in  his  eager  desire,  on  the  one  hand,  to 
absorb  all  the  ideas  and  adopt  all  the  inventions 
of  the  foreigners,  and,  on  the  other,  to  bridge  the 
gulf  between  the  spoken  and  the  written  forms  of 
his  own  vernacular. 

IVe  must  now  turn  from  the  scenes  which 
prompted  the  devout  patriot  to  bow  in  gratitude 
before  the  shrine  of  Heaven  and  give  thanks  for 
“ peace  within  the  four  seas,”  and  tell  the  story  of 
civil  war. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE  WARS  OF  THE  GENJI  AND  HEIKE. 

For  centuries  the  two  soldier  clans,  the  Genji 
and  Heike,  had  been  busy  in  many  wars,  at  the 
ends  of  the  empire,  until  every  tribe  was  subdued, 
and  “ all  was  peace  under  Heaven.”  They  were 
jealous  rivals,  however,  and  had  many  quarrels 
among  themselves.  When  campaigns  were  over, 
and  the  leaders  came  to  live  in  Kioto,  they  began 
to  think  that  it  would  be  a good  thing  to  possess 
the  palace,  and  the  Mikado,  and  the  fat  civil 
offices,  just  as  the  Fujiwara  nobles  had  done.  The 
Japanese  “Wars  of  the  Roses”  began  in  the 
twelfth  century.  The  Taira  clan  was  then  led  by 
a man  of  great  talents  and  power  named  Kiyo- 
mori.  The  head  of  the  Minamoto  house  was 
Yoshitomo.  In  the  year  1156  these  clans  quar- 
reled and  came  to  blows  while  trying  to  get  pos- 
session of  the  imperial  palace.  The  Minamoto 
were  beaten  and  driven  out  of  Kioto. 

The  Taira  men,  having  won  the  palace,  now  dic- 
tated the  policy  of  the  emperor,  and  all  Japan  was 
virtually  under  the  control  of  Kiyomori.  In  1167, 
when  fifty-six  years  old,  he  reached  the  highest 
office  which  a subject  in  Japan  could  obtain.  He 


WAIiS  OF  THE  GENJI  AND  UEIKE  109 

was  made  Dai-jo-Dai-jin,  which  means  the  Great 
Government’s  Great  Officer.  He  turned  the  Fuji- 
wara  men  out  of  office  and  put  in  his  own  clans- 
men. He  banished  nobles,  built  palaces,  moved 
the  capital,  made  his  daughter  the  wife  of  the  em- 
peror, and  even  dictated  who  should  be  Mikado. 
To  what  higher  point  could  he  reach  before  being 
called  upon  to  “change  his  world,”  as  the  Buddh- 
ists say,  or,  in  common  language,  to  die  ? 

Drunk  with  triumph,  he  resolved  to  exterminate 
the  Minamoto.  By  means  of  hired  assassins,  and 
orders  sent  to  all  the  guards  at  the  barrier-gates 
built  across  all  the  great  roads  and  mountain 
passes,  he  seized,  imprisoned,  or  slaughtered  most 
of  the  Genji  leaders.  To  various  parts  of  the 
country,  however,  many  Genji  mothers  fled,  found 
hiding-places,  and  reared  their  sons  to  manhood. 
Tametomo,  the  giant-like  archer,  had  the  muscles 
of  his  arm  cut,  and  was  exiled.  When  his  arm 
healed  up  he  escaped,  sunk  one  of  the  Taira  ships 
sent  to  recapture  him,  and  escaped  to  the  Riu  Kiu 
islands  in  the  far  south.  There,  it  is  believed,  he 
became  the  father  of  Sunten,  the  first  king  of  this 
archipelago,  the  name  of  which  means  either  the 
Sleeping  Dragon,  or  the  Hanging  Globes.  In  old 
maps  the  name  is  printed  Loo  Choo. 

In  order  to  get  possession  of  Tokiwa,  the  beau- 
tiful concubine  of  the  Genji  leader  Yoshitomo, 
Kiyomori  seized  her  mother.  In  Japan,  the  duty 
of  a daughter  to  her  mother  is  considered  greater 


110 


JAPAN 


than  that  even  to  her  children.  Tokiwa  the  beau- 
tiful had  fled  wit}i  her  three  sons.  The  names  of 
two  of  them,  Yoritomo  and  Yoshitsune,  then  a 
little  baby,  are  among  those  most  famous  in 
Japan. 

Dazzled  by  Tokiwa’s  beauty,  Kiyomori  not  only 
saved  the  mother’s  life,  but  moved  by  her  prayers, 
yet  against  the  warnings  of  his  retainers,  allowed 
the  three  boys  to  live.  Yoritomo  was  banished 
to  an  island  off  Idzu,  then  the  Siberia  of  Japan. 
Yoshitsune,  when  a few  years  older,  was  sent  to 
a monastery  near  Kioto  to  be  made  a Buddhist 
priest. 

The  little  boy,  who  had  a ruddy  face  and  a fiery 
temper,  was  so  unmanageable  and  mischievous 
that  the  shavelings  called  him  a “young  bull.” 
When  the  boy  asked  the  monks  to  let  him  go  up 
north  with  an  iron  merchant  who  lived  in  Mutsu, 
the  brethren  were  only  too  glad  to  get  rid  of  him. 
Yoshitsune  spent  his  life  until  past  twenty-one  in 
the  service  of  a Fujiwara  nobleman  in  out-door 
exercises.  He  thus  became  a soldier  of  highest 
reputation  for  courage,  skill,  and  honor. 

Yoritomo  in  exile  grew  up  under  the  eye  of  two 
Taira  officers  who  had  been  appointed  to  w^atch 
him.  He  trained  himself  to  be  patient  and  to 
control  his  feelings.  He  cultivated  the  virtues  of 
courtesy,  valor,  and  endurance.  When  grown  to 
manhood  he  married  a beautiful  girl  named  Ma- 
sago,  whose  father  was  Tokimasa,  of  the  Hojo 


WARS  OF  THE  GENJI  AND  HEIKE  111 

family,  who  had  vowed  to  help  Yoritomo  when  his 
opportunity  should  come. 

Even  when  the  boy  Yoritomo  was  being  taken 
from  Kioto  into  exile,  the  farmers  who  saw  his 
striking  countenance  said  it  was  like  letting  a 
tiger  loose.  In  the  year  1180,  the  time  came  for 
the  young  tiger  to  make  his  first  spring.  The 
tyrant  Kiyomori  in  Kioto  had  become  so  insolent 
that  one  of  the  imperial  princes  plotted  to  over- 
throw him.  He  sent  out  letters  to  all  the  Mina- 
moto  retainers  to  rise  in  arms.  Some  refused  in 
scorn,  saying  it  was  like  mice  rising  against  a cat; 
others  gathered  themselves  together  under  the 
white  flag. 

In  the  famous  Hakone  mountains,  Yoritomo 
and  the  Genji  men  fought  two  battles.  Although 
beaten,  more  followers  joined  him,  and  he  chose 
the  village  of  Kamakura  as  his  headquarters. 
Here,  in  the  seventh  century,  so  legend  goes,  the 
ancestor  of  the  Fujiwaras,  when  on  a pious  pil- 
grimage, spent  a night  near  the  site,  and  in  his 
dreams  was  told  by  the  hami  or  gods  to  bury  or 
lay  in  store  a precious  sickle  which  he  carried 
with  him.  He  did  so,  and  thus  the  place  received 
its  name  of  Kama-kura,  or  Sickle-storehouse. 
Here,  also,  at  a place  called  “ Crane  Slope,”  only 
a century  before,  Yoritomo’s  grandfather  had  built 
a shrine  to  Ojin,  or  Hachiman,  the  god  of  war,  in 
gratitude  for  victory.  Here  Yoritomo  laid  out  a 
city  and  gathered  his  army.  The  place  was  easily 


112 


JAPAN 


defended,  for  it  lies  in  a valley  inclosed  by  hills, 
and  outlooking  upon  the  seashore.  There  are 
entrances  to  it  at  each  point  of  the  compass,  that 
from  the  north  being  a road  cut  through  the  solid 
rock. 

Yoritomo  marched  to  the  Fuji  river  to  meet  the 
Heike  army  sent  from  Kioto  against  him.  There 
his  brother  Yoshitsune  from  the  north  and  many 
others  joined  him.  Before  a battle  could  be 
fought  the  Taira  host  retreated.  They  were 
scared  away  at  night,  it  is  said,  by  the  trick  of  a 
deserter,  who  went  among  the  wild  fowls  on  the 
river  banks,  and  purposely  drove  the  birds  from 
their  roosts.  They  made  such  a din  with  their 
wings  and  throats  that  the  Taira  soldiers,  thinking 
it  was  on  account  of  a night  attack  from  their 
enemies,  fled  in  disorderly  retreat.  Keturning  to 
Kamakura,  the  work  of  building  the  city  went  on, 
while  the  Genji  recruits  came  pouring  in.  The 
whole  East  seemed  now  in  a state  of  uprising, 
and  the  empire  ready  to  burst  into  the  flames  of 
civil  war. 

Meanwhile  Kiyomori  lay  dying  in  Kioto.  When 
facing  death,  the  great  soldier’s  words  were  not 
like  those  of  Christ  on  the  cross,  who  prayed  that 
his  torturers  might  be  forgiven,  but  of  David,  who 
commanded  Solomon  not  to  let  his  enemies  reach 
their  graves  in  peace.  Kiyomori’s  only  regret  on 
his  dying  bed  was,  that  he  had  not  seen  the  head 
of  Yoritomo  cut  off.  “ After  I am  dead,”  he  com- 


WARS  OF  THE  GENJI  AND  UEIKE  113 


manded,  “ do  not  propitiate  Buddha  on  my  behalf, 
do  not  chant  the  sacred  liturgies.  Only  do  this, — 
cut  off  the  head  of  Yoritomo  and  hang  it  on  my 
tomb.”  This,  however,  was  never  done,  for  Yori- 
tomo died  many  years  afterwards  with  his  head  on. 

The  Minamoto  army  now  moved  from  the  east 
to  the  west,  and  resistlessly  on  to  victory.  The 
long  civil  war  of  five  years  had  begun  in  earnest. 
The  prize  was  Kioto  and  the  imperial  palace. 
After  several  bloody  battles  the  city  was  won,  a 
new  Mikado  set  on  the  throne,  and  the  property 
of  the  fugitive  Taira  confiscated.  Their  palace 
near  Hiogo  was  captured  by  Yoshitsune,  who  pur- 
sued them  southward  to  the  Straits  of  Shimo- 
noseki,  the  place  of  repeated  naval  battles  in 
Japanese  history.  Here,  in  May,  1185,  led  by 
Yoshitsune,  the  fleet  of  the  Genji  attacked  the 
vessels  of  the  Heike.  While  the  Genji  were  all 
men  and  fighters,  the  Heike  were  encumbered 
with  their  women  and  children.  Over  a thousand 
war  junks  were  engaged  under  the  opposing  white 
and  red  flags,  and  the  bloody  battle  lasted  for 
hours. 

In  this,  the  greatest  of  sea-fights  in  Japanese 
annals,  the  Heike  as  a clan  were  annihilated. 

The  Genji  men  took  vengeance  on  their  enemies 
and  put  to  death  hundreds  of  Taira  boys.  Many 
mothers  fled  to  hiding-places,  and  some  youths  of 
Taira  blood  were  reared  to  manhood,  but  changed 
their  names.  The  women  and  many  of  the  com- 


114 


JAPAN 


mon  soldiers  and  retainers  were  spared.  In  the 
month  following,  the  victorious  army  enjoyed  a 
triumph  in  Kioto.  They  exhibited  their  spoils 
and  prisoners,  and  processions  and  festivals  occu- 
pied many  days. 

The  awful  event  at  Shimonoseki  made  a great 
impression  on  the  people,  and  especially  upon  the 
fishermen  and  sailors  in  the  region  of  the  great 
battle.  In  the  temples  at  Shimonoseki  there  are 
striking  pictures  of  the  struggle. 

Many  are  the  legends  which  tell  how  the  un- 
quiet ghosts  of  the  Taira  raise  storms,  and  appear 
to  mariners  at  night.  On  one  occasion,  as  Yoshi- 
tsune  in  full  armor  was  crossing  the  straits,  the 
waves  were  lashed  to  fury  by  a tempest  which 
threatened  to  founder  the  ship,  The  sails  flapped 
wildly,  and  the  ship  refused  to  obey  her  rudder. 
Out  on  the  tops  of  the  curling  spray  stood  myr- 
iads of  pale-faced  and  angry  shades  of  the  dead. 
Ghastly  with  wounds,  they  threatened  dire  calam- 
ity to  the  victor  who  had  sent  their  souls  into  the 
nether  world.  Yoshitsune,  undaunted,  stood  on 
deck,  and  with  his  sword  struck  vainly  at  the 
ghosts  that  would  not  down,  cutting  nothing  but 
the  air.  Only  when  Benkei,  the  gigantic  priest- 
warrior,  threw  down  his  sword,  and  pulling  out 
his  beads  began  to  exorcise  the  spirits  by  appro- 
priate Buddhist  prayers,  did  the  storm  cease  and 
the  shades  disappear. 

Even  in  our  own  day  the  fishermen  tell  stories 


OF  THE  GENJI  AND  HEIKE  115 

of  ghosts  which  rise  out  of  the  sea  at  night  and 
oeg  for  a dipper.  These  ghosts  are  the  Taira 
men  slain  in  battle,  and  condemned  by  the  King 
of  the  World  Under  the  Sea  to  cleanse  the  ocean 
of  its  stain  of  blood.  The  boatmen  always  give 
them  a dipper  which  has  no  bottom,  else  they 
would  swamp  the  boat  by  filling  it  with  sea-water. 
The  restless  souls,  long  ago  condemned  to  bail  out 
the  sea  and  cleanse  it  of  its  stain  of  blood,  still 
keep  hopelessly  at  work. 

The  fishermen,  however,  say  that  the  Taira 
ghosts,  in  these  late  days,  only  occasionally  appear. 
For  centuries  after  the  battle  they  used  to  rise  up 
in  hosts,  A great  temple  sacred  to  Amida,  the 
Boundlessly  Compassionate  Buddha,  was  erected 
long  ago  at  Shimonoseki  to  appease  the  wrath  of 
the  spirits.  Since  then  they  have  been  quiet. 
Evidently  their  ghosts  have  taken  the  shape  of 
shellfish,  as  Buddhist  doctrine  teaches.  A pecu- 
liar kind  of  crab  is  found  in  the  Straits.  On 
their  backs  may  be  traced  the  figure  of  an  angry 
man.  These  are  called  Heike  - garni,  or  Heike 
crabs,  and  the  fisher  folks  say  they  were  not 
known  to  exist  here  until  after  the  Taira  were 
slaughtered  in  the  great  battle.  A few  years  ago 
plaques  of  copper,  inscribed  with  the  story  of  the 
conflict  and  a description  of  the  crab,  were  sold 
to  tourists.  Many  Japanese  are  fond  of  travel- 
ing to  visit  the  sites  of  old  battlefields,  and  places 
famous  for  scenery  or  described  in  poetry,  and 
the  copper-engravers  drove  a thriving  trade. 


116 


JAPAN 


When  the  Taira  army  fled  from  Kioto  they 
carried  off  the  Mikado  and  three  sacred  regalia, 
the  mirror,  ball,  and  sword.  The  little  boy-Mikado 
Antoku,  who  was  a grandson  of  Kiyomori,  was 
put  in  care  of  his  grandmother,  Kiyomori’s  widow, 
who  was  a Buddhist  nun.  In  the  battle,  the  nun 
with  the  boy-emperor  in  her  arms  leaped  into  the 
sea,  so  as  not  to  be  taken  alive.  The  boy’s  mother 
Taigo  followed,  vainly  trying  to  save  the  child, 
and  all  three  were  drowned. 

The  three  sacred  emblems  were  recovered  and 
brought  to  Kioto,  but  it  was  not  until  nearly 
three  hundred  years  afterward  that  the  great 
Taiko  had  a monument  erected  to  the  young 
Mikado’s  memory.  It  was  placed  on  a ledge  of 
rocks  in  the  channel  of  the  rushing  waters.  Sev- 
eral score  of  the  Taira  men  who  were  not  killed 
fled  to  the  mountain  fastnesses  in  Higo.  Here 
their  descendants  have  lived.  Their  very  exis- 
tence was  unknown  and  unsuspected  until  about 
a hundred  years  ago,  when  it  was  discovered  that 
in  the  veins  of  these  secluded  people,  who  lived 
roughly  as  hunters  and  trappers,  ran  the  blood  of 
the  Heike. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


YORITOMO  AT  KAMAKURA. 

While  part  of  the  Kamakura  army  was  fight- 
ing in  the  southwest,  Yoritomo  himself  made  a 
campaign  in  the  north  in  Mutsu  and  Dewa.  He 
was  everywhere  victorious ; and  now  he  who  had 
left  the  capital  as  an  exile,  hardly  certain  of  his 
life,  reentered  Kioto  in  splendor  and  with  a mag- 
nificent retinue.  Both  the  reigning  and  the  clois- 
tered emperor  received  him  with  distinguished 
consideration.  Every  visit  he  made  consumed 
several  hours  by  the  water-clock,  showing  how 
much  the  emperor  delighted  in  him.  When  they 
saw  his  elegantly  attired  companions  and  their 
fine  dress  and  manners,  the  old  inhabitants  of  the 
city  and  the  court  nobles  were  surprised.  They 
could  hardly  believe  that  such  wealth  and  cultiva- 
tion of  the  arts  of  dress,  display,  and  etiquette 
existed  in  the  east.  They  had  supposed  that  part 
of  the  empire  to  be  poor,  and  comparatively  bar- 
barous. They  ought  to  have  known  better ; for 
by  this  time  the  Buddhist  priests  had  carried 
books  and  learning  into  many  places  in  the  north 
and  east,  while  not  a few  civil  and  military  men 
of  noble  descent  had  settled  in  various  towns  and 


118 


JAPAN 


villages,  taking  tlieir  family  names  from  the  neigh- 
borhoods in  which  they  dw'elt.  Many  of  them 
afterwards  rose  to  great  fame,  as  we  shall  see. 

Yoritomo  made  costly  presents,  and  after  a 
round  of  feasting,  festivals,  and  games  which  de- 
lighted the  people  and  added  to  his  popularity, 
returned  to  Kamakura  loaded  with  honors,  and 
with  powers  greater  than  any  ever  granted  to  a 
subject.  In  a word,  when  Yoritomo  left  Kioto 
the  second  time,  instead  of  being  an  exile  he 
faced  the  rising  sun  as  the  virtual  ruler  of  all 
Japan.  The  military  age  of  the  Mikado’s  empire 
had  begun. 

The  campaign  against  the  Heik(^  was  conducted 
chiefly  by  Yoshitsune.  During  the  war  in  the 
southwest,  Yoritomo  had  remained  in  the  east  at 
Kamakura,  busy  in  affairs  of  government,  for  he 
had  a genius  for  statesmanship  as  well  as  for 
strategy  and  tactics.  In  his  civil  policy  he  wns 
so  successful  that  soon  the  robbers  were  put  down, 
and  the  highways  made  safe  for  travel.  The 
warlike  Buddhist  monks,  who  had  made  their 
monasteries  little  better  than  the  castles  of  robber 
barons,  were  curbed,  and  good  government  every- 
where in  eastern  Japan  succeeded  to  misrule. 
Yoritomo  established  a council  of  state,  and  tribu- 
nals for  the  trial  of  violent  offenders.  He  encour- 
aged every  one  to  offer  suggestions  or  criticisms, 
and  to  propose  improvements.  The  petition-box 
was  always  open  to  those  who  had  complaints  to 


YORITOMO  AT  KAMAKURA 


119 


make.  Soon  it  came  to  pass  that  the  Kioto 
officers  of  the  treasury,  seeing  how  the  tide  was 
turning,  came  to  live  in  Kamakura.  Yoritomo 
eagerly  availed  himself  of  their  experience  to  in- 
crease and  husband  his  revenues.  Thus  it  seemed 
as  if  the  eastern  town  was  to  he  the  actual  capital 
of  the  country. 

Yoritomo  craftily  took  every  opportunity  to 
extend  his  own  and  his  family  influence.  His 
shrewd  father-in-law,  named  Hojo  Tokimasa, 
helped  him.  After  the  Taira  had  been  annihi- 
lated, Yoritomo  requested  the  Mikado  to  appoint 
five  army  officers,  all  Yoritomo’s  relatives,  as 
governors  of  provinces.  This  was  agreed  upon. 
Yoshitsune  was  at  once  made  governor  of  lyo. 

This  was  a tremendous  step  towards  feudalism 
and  military  despotism,  that  army  officers  should 
be  set  to  rule  provinces,  instead  of  civil  officers 
appointed  from  the  court.  Formerly,  the  double 
business  of  the  civilian  governors  who  were  sent 
out  from  Kioto,  and  who  held  office  for  four 
years,  was,  first,  to  collect  the  taxes  which  formed 
the  revenue  of  the  government,  and,  second,  to 
put  down  violence  and  rapine.  When  the  impe- 
rial court  appointed  Yoritomo  to  be  the  Chief 
Constable  of  the  Realm,  he  craftily  proposed  that 
the  authority  in  each  province  should  be  divided, 
the  civil  governor  attending  to  the  collection  of 
revenue,  and  the  military  governor  putting  down 
the  robbers  and  rebels.  Still  further,  he  requested 


120 


Japan 


that  these  military  governors  should  be  his  own 
relatives,  and  also  that  they  should  be  under  his 
control  from  Kamakura.  This  double  request 
was  granted,  for  Yoritomo’s  influence  at  Kioto 
was  tremendous.  Had  not  his  Genji  ancestors 
conquered  nearly  all  northern  Japan  for  the 
throne  ? W as  not  his  father-in-law  in  command 
of  the  garrison  at  Kioto,  and  did  not  the  Mikado 
Gotoba  owe  his  elevation  to  Yoritomo,  and  ought 
not  brave  soldiers  to  be  rewarded  ? 

So,  gradually,  it  was  seen  that,  while  the  name 
and  shadow  of  government  remained  at  Kioto, 
the  reality  and  substance  were  at  Kamakura.  In 
1192,  Yoritomo  attained  the  zenith  of  honor,  and 
was  made  Sei-i  Tai  Shogun. 

This  long  title  means  Rebel-Subduing  Great 
General.  It  had  been  in  use  nearly  four  hundred 
years  as  a purely  military  title,  but  Yoritomo 
made  it  mean  more  than  ever  it  meant  before. 
In  his  hands  and  those  of  his  successors  it  meant 
Keeper  or  Mayor  of  the  Palace,  and  the  virtual 
ruler  of  the  country.  The  office  and  title  lasted 
until  1868.  The  Shoguns  and  Tycoons,  who  ruled 
during  nearly  seven  hundred  years,  all  professed 
to  be  following  this  precedent  established  by 
Yoritomo.  They  were  his  successors,  and  of 
Minamoto  blood. 

Kamakura  now  became  a great  city,  and  all 
government  was  divided  between  the  throne  and 
the  camp.  It  was  a duarchy,  or  double  govern- 
ment. 


YORITOMO  AT  KAMAKURA 


121 


Yoritomo  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  Japan 
ever  produced.  Yet  he  was  in  character  jealous 
and  cruel.  He  did  not  like  it  that  Yoshitsune, 
his  brother,  had  won  such  brilliant  victories,  and 
was  so  praised  by  all.  A man  named  Kajiwara 
poisoned  the  mind  of  Yoritomo  with  slander 
against  Yoshitsune.  So,  instead  of  welcoming 
his  younger  brother  kindly,  Yoritomo  persecuted 
him  to  the  death.  Indeed,  it  was  usually  his  way 
to  handle  cruelly  those  who  had  once  served  him. 
Selfish  and  heartless,  his  memory  is  execrated, 
while  that  of  Yoshitsune  is  honored. 

To-day  Kamakura  is  only  a country  town  of 
about  six  thousand  people.  The  foreign  people 
of  Yokohama  make  use  of  it  as  a seaside  resort, 
or  for  picnics  and  excursions.  Yet  at  one  time, 
in  its  best  days,  it  contained  probably  a million 
people.  Where  temples  and  palaces  once  stood, 
and  splendid  avenues  ran,  are  now  common  rice- 
fields.  The  change  reminds  us  of  the  site  of 
Matildaville,  on  the  Potomac,  planned  by  Wash- 
ington as  a city,  once  gay  with  elegant  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  populous  with  workmen,  slaves,  and 
rich  proprietors,  and  promising  wealth  with  its 
mills,  river-dam,  and  canal,  but  now  unknown  to 
history  or  gazetteer,  and  visited  only  by  tourist 
or  picnic  parties. 

So  Kamakura  is  given  over  to  quiet  country  life, 
and  all  that  tells  of  the  great  Yoritomo  is  a simple 
obelisk  tomb  on  the  top  of  a knoll.  Yet  such 


122 


JAPAN 


was  the  splendor  of  these  old  days  that  the  Japa- 
nese of  to-day  fires  his  imagination  as  he  visits 
the  shady  groves  and  hill-passes.  Poet  and  novel- 
ist still  delight  to  locate  the  scenes  of  their  ro- 
mances amid  the  pagoda  shadows,  and  spectacular 
splendors,  and  processions  of  the  Kamakura  of 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries. 

The  artist,  also,  has  his  own  way  of  picturing 
the  glories  of  the  place,  and  the  prosperity  attend- 
ing the  rule  of  Yoritomo.  Hokiisai,  the  great 
artist,  who  died  only  a few  years  before  one 
of  Commodore  Perry’s  ships,  the  Macedonian, 
grounded  off  Kamakura,  has  in  one  of  his  albums 
a famous  picture  of  the  cock  on  the  drum. 

In  European  art,  the  symbol  of  peace  is  a white 
dove,  an  olive  branch,  a lamb,  a flower-grown 
cannon  on  the  neglected  battlefield,  a radiant 
maiden,  or  an  angel  in  glistening  white  robes.  In 
the  art  repertoire  of  Japan,  it  is  a crowing  cock 
standing  on  a drum  raised  in  air. 

This  is  what  we  may  call  the  aesthetic  resurrec- 
tion of  a custom  long  dead,  and  known  only  in 
histor}^  We  are  reminded  that  long  ago,  in 
Kioto,  by  the  emperor  Kotoku  (645-654),  the 
custom  was  established,  and  afterwards  copied  in 
Kamakura.  A wooden  drum  stood  on  a post 
in  front  of  the  office  of  the  magistrate.  Whoever 
was  oppressed  or  maltreated,  and  wished  to  pre- 
sent a petition  for  redress,  sounded  the  drum. 
Then  the  guard  came  out  to  receive  the  petition 


YORITOMO  AT  KAMAKURA 


123 


or  relieve  the  plaint.  In  times  of  misrule  and 
bad  government  the  drum  would  sound  often, 
scaring  away  bird  and  beast.  In  time  of  peace 
and  good  government,  when  all  dwelt  in  happiness 
and  no  one  was  injured,  the  alarm  drum  was  neg- 
lected, and,  no  one  being  near  it,  the  cock  could 
mount  it  as  a crowing-place.  Hence  this  figure 
of  the  cock  and  drum,  so  often  noted  in  museums 
where  Japanese  art  is  exhibited,  is  a symbol  of 
good  government. 

After  long  years  of  peace  the  parchment  of  the 
drum  would  decay,  and  even  fall  to  the  ground. 
The  motherly  old  hen  would  lay  her  eggs  and 
hatch  her  brood  within.  Even  the  doves  would 
coo  and  bill  upon  the  top.  In  Hokusai’s  sketch 
of  the  neglected  drum,  the  vines  encircle  it,  the 
flowers  bloom,  and  the  doves  hover  over  it,  the 
sign  that  all  the  empire  was  at  peace.  Loyal  and 
true  to  the  Mikado,  Hokusai  makes  the  leaves  of 
the  encircling  shrubbery  and  their  flowers  those 
of  the  kiri  and  the  chrysanthemum-tree,  — the 
floral  emblems  of  the  imperial  rule  and  family. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE  DEATH  OF  YOSHITSUNB. 

It  is  a sad  page  of  J apanese  history  which  tells 
of  Yoritomo’s  treatment  of  his  younger  brother. 
We  do  but  imitate  the  native  historians  in  telling 
of  it. 

Alas  for  human  ingratitude  and  jealousy  ! Alas 
for  him  in  whose  heart  rankles  the  double-bladed 
arrow  of  slander  ! In  the  ear  of  Yoritomo  was 
poured  the  flood  of  falsehood  that  washed  out 
affection  between  blood  and  bone. 

It  was  the  Japanese  version  of  Romeo  and  Ju- 
liet, of  Montague  and  Capulet.  Yoshitsune  while 
in  the  south  had  loved  a daughter  of  a noble  of 
Heike  blood,  and  had  married  her.  He  had  also 
offended  a certain  military  inspector  named  Kaji- 
wara  Kagetoki  by  never  asking  his  advice.  This 
enraged  the  inspector,  who  returned  to  Yoritomo 
and  slandered  Yoshitsune  in  every  possible  way. 
So  the  jealousy  of  his  brother  and  the  hatred  of 
his  enemy  were  as  flint  and  steel  to  the  suspicions 
aroused  by  his  marriage  with  the  Heike  lady. 
The  fires  were  soon  kindled  that  were  to  destroy 
the  faithful,  loyal,  and  brave  Yoshitsune. 

Yoritomo  would  not  allow  him  to  enter  Kama- 


THE  DEATH  OF  YOSHITSUNt 


125 


kura,  nor  even  see  or  write  to  him.  The  fuel  of 
the  poison-tongued  liar  fed  the  fire  of  jealousy  in 
Yoritomo’s  heart,  and  henceforth  Yoshitsun^  be- 
came an  outlaw,  flying  from  the  hatred  and  ven- 
geance of  his  unnatural  relative,  who  had  deter- 
mined on  his  death ; for  Yoritomo  had  said:  “ He 
must  be  hoed  up  without  mercy.  Who  will  at- 
tack Yoshitsune  for  me  ? ” He  even  erased  his 
name  from  the  family  rolls  and  changed  his  name 
to  Yoshiakira. 

Yoshitsune,  now  finding  his  life  was  in  danger, 
kept  strict  watch.  One  night  a band  of  horsemen 
in  armor,  each  having  a torch,  surrounded  the 
house  in  Kioto  where  he  was  staying  with  only 
fifty  followers.  Hastily  putting  on  his  corselet,  he 
rushed  out,  and  charged  into  a storm  of  arrows 
that  blunted  their  heads  on  his  hard  armor,  or 
stuck  in  his  lacings.  Sword  in  hand,  he  drove 
the  enemy  off  in  disorder,  and  then  finished  pur- 
suit with  bow  and  arrow.  He  then  went  straight 
to  the  palace  of  the  emperor,  just  as  he  was,  and 
reported  the  cruel  attack.  His  helmet  was  as  full 
of  arrows  as  a porcupine  of  quills,  and  he  had  only 
three  shafts  left  in  his  quiver. 

To  escape  the  plots  of  his  brother,  Yoshitsune 
fled  to  Yamatoand  took  ship,  but  the  storm  drove 
him  back,  and  he  landed  and  hid  on  land  five  days. 
Even  the  priests  now  sought  to  kill  him  for  reward. 
Avoiding  them,  he  reached  Kioto  again,  and  found 
a hiding-place  with  a faithful  retainer,  one  Sato, 


126 


JAPAN 


who  was  also  in  concealment.  One  day,  as  Sato 
was  playing  checkers,  a band  of  Yoritomo’s  men 
burst  upon  him,  armed  with  swords,  and  long  iron 
hooks  to  catch  in  his  clothes  and  trip  him,  for 
they  were  afraid  of  his  tremendous  strength.  But 
Sato,  though  armed  only  with  the  checker-block 
and  pieces,  seized  one  man  and  threw  him  in  the 
air,  grasped  another  by  the  neck  and  tossed  him 
at  his  fellows.  Then  he  hurled  the  heavy  checker- 
block  into  the  crowd,  knocking  over  two  or  three 
men.  As  a final  discharge,  he  threw  the  cups  full 
of  the  three  hundred  or  more  black  and  white 
counters  full  in  their  faces.  For  a moment  there 
was  a hail-storm,  but  finally  force  and  weapons 
overcame  even  his  gigantic  strength.  Entangling 
him  in  their  grappling  irons  they  pulled  him 
down,  and  hacked  him  to  pieces  with  their  swords. 
Then  they  carried  his  head  to  Yoritomo. 

Yoshitsune,  finding  he  could  not  hide  in  Kioto, 
parted  from  Shidzuka,  his  beloved.  This  scene  of 
his  farewell  is  a favorite  one  with  the  artists.  He 
and  his  faithful  retainer  Benkei  fled  northwards 
in  the  disguise  of  mountain  priests.  After  many 
days,  he  arrived  at  the  castle  of  a Fujiwara  noble, 
who  gave  him  help  and  shelter.  This  old  noble 
wished  to  see  Yoshitsune  put  down  Yoritomo 
and  become  lord  of  Kamakura.  But  not  long 
after,  the  old  man  died,  leaving  two  sons,  one  of 
whom,  by  the  order  of  Yoritomo,  plotted  against 
Yoshitsune’s  life,  and  attacked  the  castle  in  which 


THE  DEATH  OF  YOSHITSUNJ^  127 

Yoshitsune  with  his  wife  and  children  and  Benkei 
were  living. 

How  Yoshitsune  died  is  uncertain.  The  sol- 
diers say  that,  after  putting  his  wife  and  children 
to  the  sword,  he  killed  himself.  The  soldiers  then 
cut  off  his  head,  and  sent  it  in  a lacquered  box 
full  of  strong  wine  to  Yoritomo,  who  at  the  time 
was  celebrating  a temple  feast  and  therefore 
would  not  examine  it. 

Others  say  that  Benkei  made  an  image  of  him- 
self, stuffed  it  with  rice-straw,  and  at  night 
fastened  it  securely  on  the  bridge  crossing  the 
moat  to  the  castle  gate.  In  the  morning,  the 
enemy  shot  at  it  until  it  was  as  full  of  arrows  as 
a cushion  full  of  needles,  while  the  spent  shafts 
were  piled  in  heaps  on  the  bridge.  They  feared 
to  come  closer,  as  the  garrison  might  be  waiting 
ready  to  sally  out.  Finally,  the  towers  and  build- 
ings inside  were  set  on  fire  by  means  of  flaming 
arrows,  and  the  castle  was  forced  and  found  empty. 
The  Ainus  say  that  Yoshitsune  fled  to  Yezo,  and 
became  a great  lawgiver  and  mighty  man  among 
them  ; and  these  people  worship  his  spirit  to  this 
day.  After  living  several  years  in  Yezo,  it  is  said 
that  he  fled  across  the  sea  to  Tartary,  and  became 
the  renowned  Mongol  conqueror,  Genghis  Khan, 
who  filled  two  continents  with  terror,  and  founded 
an  empire  stretching  from  Corea  to  Poland,  and 
from  the  Danube  to  the  Yellow  Sea. 

Yoshitsune,  the  brave,  the  generous,  the  loving, 


128 


JAPAN 


the  chivalrous,  is  the  Japanese  boy’s  model ; and 
on  the  fifth  day  of  the  fifth  month,  when  the  im- 
ages of  Japan’s  illustrious  heroes  are  set  out  in 
festal  array,  none,  saving  the  emperor’s,  receives 
a higher  place  and  greater  honor  than  that  of 
Yoshitsune,  the  stainless,  the  brave.  Of  all  the 
bright  names  on  the  long  scroll  of  Japanese  his- 
tory and  legend,  no  other  name  thrills  the  Japa- 
nese boy’s  heart  like  the  name  of  Yoshitsune. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


; THE  HOJO  EULE. 

W ITH  Kamakura  a second  capital,  and  the  Sho- 
gun a real  ruler,  the  Japanese  government  was  a 
duarchy,  and  the  general  outline  of  the  programme 
of  Japanese  politics  was  fixed  for  the  next  seven 
( hundred  years.  Long  before  Europeans  knew 
I anything  of  Japan,  from  A.  D.  1192  until  within 
I a few  years  ago,  everything  in  Japan  seemed  to  be 
I double.  There  were  two  rulers,  two  governments, 
I two  capitals : the  Mikado  and  the  Shogun  ; the 
I throne  and  the  camp ; the  huge^  or  court  nobles, 

I and  the  huM^  or  military  lords.  Practically,  from 
! 1192  to  1868,  with  but  few  exceptions  in  point  of 

' time,  this  was  the  state  of  things  in  Dai  Nippon. 

I No  subject,  either  nobleman  or  commoner,  ever 
attempted  to  seize  the  throne  and  make  himself 
! emperor,  but  only  to  overawe  the  court,  and 
! dictate  which  heir  of  the  imperial  blood  should 
I occupy  the  throne.  The  Japanese  had  no  foreign 
, wars  to  wage,  or  invaders  to  contend  with,  but  they 
I quarreled  among  themselves,  and  often  two  rival 
j parties  fought  to  obtain  possession  of  the  person 
j of  the  Mikado.  Whichever  one  was  victorious, 

I and  could  execute  its  will  in  the  name  of  the  Son 


130 


JAPAN 


of  Heaven,  was  the  “ loyal  ” one,  while  the  de- 
feated party  became  chd-te-Jci,  or  rebels. 

In  long  eras  of  peace,  this  awful  name  and  word 
was  forgotten,  but  in  time  of  civil  war,  it  sprang 
upon  the  lips  of  the  people,  with  all  its  horrible 
associations  of  treason,  attainder,  blood-pits,  heads 
taken  off  with  the  sword,  hara-kiri,  or  suicide,  con- 
fiscation and  the  waste  and  desolation  that  always 
accompany  civil  war.  Few  countries  have  had  so 
many  intestine  wars  and  so  much  bloody  slaughter, 
both  for  political  and  religious  ends,  as  Japan.  It 
is  in  poetry,  not  in  fact,  that  it  is  called  the  “ Land 
of  Great  Peace.”  The  truth  of  history  and  the 
rhapsodies  of  hasty  tourists  are  grievously  con- 
tradictory. 

We  shall  be  content  with  stating  this  general 
assertion,  without  entering  into  the  repulsive  de- 
tails of  the  reality.  Instead  of  minutely  describ- 
ing the  battles,  as  the  native  histories  do,  we  shall 
note  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  how 
the  civilization  of  the  Princess  Country  developed. 
Thus  shall  we  see  and  know  how  Japan  came  to 
be,  first,  the  Lady  among  the  Asian  nations  ; then 
the  Princess  Thornrose  ; then  how  she  fell  asleep  ; 
and,  again,  how  Prince  Perry  woke  her  up  with 
a rousing  kiss  ; and,  finally,  how  she  lives  and 
dresses  in  modern  fashion,  arrayed  in  the  costume 
of  both  East  and  West. 

Yoritomo  had  a fall  from  his  horse  in  the  year 
1198,  and  died  early  in  1199,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 


THE  HO  JO  RULE 


131 


three,  after  a rule  of  fifteen  years.  Yoriiye,  his 
son,  succeeded.  Yoriiye  was  deposed  by  Hojo 
Tokimasa,  his  grandfather,  and  afterwards  assas- 
sinated by  hired  assassins.  Sanetomo,  another 
son  of  Yoritomo,  succeeded,  but  was  beheaded  in 
revenge  for  liis  father’s  death  by  Kugio,  the  son  of 
Yoriiye.  The  direct  line  of  the  Minamoto  was 
now  extinct. 

Hojo  Tokimasa,  of  whom  we  have  spoken,  was 
the  seventh  in  descent  from  a Taira  nobleman,  who 
was  a son  of  the  Mikado  Kwammu  (782-805). 
Settling  at  Hojo,  a town  in  Idzu,  just  south  of  the 
great  Tokaido  road,  they  took  their  name  from 
this  place,  now  a wretched  little  village. 

Hojo  Tokimasa  had  married  his  daughter  Ma- 
sago  to  Yoritomo,  and  by  other  inter marrages  the 
Hojo  and  Xrenji  clans  were  closely  united. 

Now  began  that  part  of  Japanese  history  known 
as  “ the  era  of  the  puppet  Shoguns.”  It  was  a 
game  of  Punch  and  Judy  in  politics.  None  of 
the  Hojo  men  ever  attempted  to  fill  the  office 
of  Shogun,  but  their  idea  was  to  set  up  some  one 
sent  from  Kioto  as  a mere  figure-head,  while  they 
acted  as  regents,  ventriloquized  their  opinions, 
pulled  the  wires,  and  exerted  all  real  authority. 

Masago,  Yoritomo’s  widow,  sent  to  Kioto  and 
delighted  the  Fujiwara  nobles  by  asking  that  a 
baby  boy  of  their  family  name,  only  two  years 
old,  be  sent  to  Kamakura  and  made  Shogun. 
After  twenty-five  years  of  shadowy  rule,  he  was 


132 


JAPAN 


made  to  resign  in  favor  of  his  son,  six  years  old, 
who  in  turn  was  deposed  when  twelve  years  of  age 
and  sent  back  to  Kioto. 

After  this,  the  Ho  jo  politicians  secured  princes 
of  imperial  blood,  sons  of  Mikados,  setting  them 
up  when  mere  babes,  and  bowling  them  down,  like 
ten-pins  in  an  alley,  when  grown  to  be  men,  or 
when  they  began  to  show  signs  of  manly  indepen- 
dence. 

Having  the  army  and  the  treasury  in  their 
power,  the  Hojo  were  enabled  to  overawe  the 
Mikado  and  court,  terrorize  all  Japan,  and  put 
down  all  attempts  to  overthrow  them.  Finally, 
however,  in  1333,  two  heroes  arose  to  draw  their 
swords  victoriously  against  the  Hojo,  whose  op- 
pressions of  emperor,  court  and  people  could  no 
longer  be  borne. 

Nitta  Yoshisada  was  a captain  in  the  army 
of  the  Plojo.  In  his  veins  flowed  the  blood  of 
Minamoto  ancestors  who  had  settled  at  Kitta. 
Leaving  the  service  of  Hojo,  he  appeared  before 
the  shrine  in  his  native  village  and  called  for 
volunteers  to  range  themselves  under  his  white 
banner.  With  his  troops,  he  attacked  Kamakura 
on  three  sides,  stormed  the  barricades,  captured 
and  set  on  fire  the  city  and  left  it  in  ashes.  Six 
thousand  of  the  Hojo  retainers,  it  is  said,  com- 
mitted hara-kiri.  While  thus  successful  in  the 
east,  two  captains  loyal  to  the  Mikado  arose  in 
the  west,  and  took  Kioto.  The  name  of  one. 


THE  HO  JO  RULE 


138 


illustrious  forever  in  Japanese  history  as  the 
typical  loyal  Samurai,  is  Kusunoki ; that  of  the 
other  is  associated  with  a new  dynasty  of  Sho- 
guns, Ashikaga  Takauji. 

The  Hojo  family  now  passed  out  of  sight,  as 
the  Taira  family  had  already  done  before  them. 
As  the  memory  of  the  Taira  is  preserved  in  the 
folk-lore  and  ghost  stories  of  the  peasantry  and 
fishermen,  so  the  Hojo  have  their  namesakes  in 
hated  vermin.  The  country  folks  of  eastern  Japan 
have  a great  annual  ceremony  for  the  extermina- 
tion of  a destructive  worm  called  the  “Hojo  bug,” 
and  thus  keep  alive  the  detested  memory  of  the 
second  line  of  rulers  at  Kamakura. 

Many,  also,  are  the  puns  and  jokes  on  the  word 
hojo^  which  means  both  a Buddhist  priest  or  mo- 
nastery  and  the  setting  free  of  live  things  that 
have  been  confined,  such  as  animals,  birds,  fish,  or 
insects.  This  the  Buddhists  consider  meritorious 
work,  as  making  offerings  for  the  dead.  In  Tokio, 
I used  to  notice  old  women  sitting  on  the  bridges 
and  selling  young  eels.  These  were  bought  by 
passers-by  and  immediately  dropped  into  the  canal 
below,  in  pious  memory  of  deceased  relatives, 
and  to  shorten  their  pains  in  the  Buddhist  pur- 
gatory. 

Nevertheless,  the  Hojo  rulers  deserve  the  honors 
of  history,  for  some  of  them  were  able  statesmen. 
They  improved  justice,  agriculture,  and  indus- 
try, or  encouraged  literature  and  religion.  They 


134 


JAPAN 


established  a great  library.  The  resources  of  the 
country  were  developed,  and  the  nation  grew 
richer.  Under  their  patronage,  splendid  temples, 
monasteries,  pagodas,  and  images  were  erected. 
The  great  bronze  image  of  Dai  Butsu  (Great 
Buddha),  and  other  grand  edifices  still  standing 
at  Kamakura,  testify  to  their  enterprise.  One  of 
them  had  the  pagoda-shaped  monument  to  the 
memory  of  Kiyomori  erected  near  Hiogo.  They 
kept  alive  the  military  spirit,  and  defended  the 
country  against  the  Mongol  Tartars.  They  be- 
headed the  insolent  envoys  sent  over  from  China 
to  demand  that  the  Japanese  declare  themselves 
vassals  of  the  great  Khan.  When,  in  1281,  the 
armada  of  Kublai  attempted  to  invade  and  con- 
quer the  country,  they  were  successfully  driven  off. 
The  winds  and  the  waves  fought  for  the  Japanese. 
Of  the  “ Jimpu,”  or  Divine  Breath,  the  Japanese 
to  this  day  speak  as  gratefully  and  piously  as  do 
the  English  of  the  providential  storms  that  de- 
feated the  Spanish  Armada.  Japan,  too,  had  her 
warriors,  like  Drake  and  Frobisher,  who  bravely 
defied  and  crippled  the  remnants  of  the  enemy. 

Indeed,  the  Japanese  sword  won  new  reputa- 
tion from  this  repulse  of  the  Mongol  invaders. 
Instead  of  the  ancient  two-edged  ken  or  falchion 
of  the  “divine  ages,”  or  of  the  clumsy  and  un- 
wieldy weapons  of  the  continental  Asiatics,  the 
Japanese  now  fought  entirely  with  the  long  and 
slender  sword  made  of  both  iron  and  steel.  The 


THE  HO  JO  RULE 


135 


famous  swordsmiths  of  the  Middle  Ages  had 
forged  a new  weapon  made  by  setting  an  edge- 
strip  of  hardest  steel  into  a backing  of  soft,  tough 
iron  made  of  the  native  magnetic  sand,  or  ore. 
Of  this  two-handed  blade,  called  a hatana^  appa- 
rently so  light  and  delicate  when  laid  beside  the 
heavy  choppers  of  the  Chinese,  the  Japanese  are 
intensely  proud.  Their  feeling  was  like  that  of  a 
Kentucky  rifleman  of  the  olden  time  contrasting 
his  small  calibre  with  the  large,  smooth  bore  of 
the  old  ball-and-buck  soldier’s  musket.  From 
this  time  forth,  the  names  of  the  Southern  Coun- 
try of  Brave  Warriors,  and  the  Kingdom  Ruled 
by  a Slender  Sword,  and  the  Land  of  Many 
Blades,  applied  to  Japan,  became  common  in 
poetry  and  romance. 

The  feudal  system  developed  and  took  on  new 
features  under  the  Hojo  rulers.  They  kept  a gar- 
rison in  Kioto  to  overawe  the  court  and  emperor. 
The  term  “ Samurai  ” included  all  the  military  men 
of  the  country,  and  the  custom  of  wearing  two 
swords  came  into  vogue,  so  that  “ two-sworded 
man  ” and  “ Samurai  ” were  equivalent  terms. 
The  long  sword  was  for  use  against  the  enemy, 
and  the  dirk  or  short  sword  was  for  suicide. 
When  wounded  in  battle  and  unable  to  escape, 
the  soldier,  in  order  to  avoid  falling  alive  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  stabbed  himself  in  the  belly 
with  the  short  sword.  This  was  called  hara-kiri^ 
but  the  more  elegant  term  is  seppuku.  Soon  the 


136 


JAPAN 


upper  classes  claimed  it  as  a privilege  to  die  in 
military  style,  just  as  a soldier,  Major  Andre,  for 
example,  prefers  to  be  shot  rather  than  be  hanged. 
Instead  of  being  beheaded  on  the  common  execu- 
tion-ground like  a vulgar  criminal,  and  by  the 
ordinary  deathsman,  the  Daimio  or  Samurai  con- 
demned to  death  was  notified  when  and  where  he 
might,  in  presence  of  the  official  inspectors,  kill 
himself.  In  later  times  this  was  done  with  great 
ceremony,  and  a chosen  friend  made  the  action 
sure  by  decapitation. 

The  Hojo  period  (1219-1333)  is  also  famous 
for  the  great  missionary  work  and  triumph  of 
Buddhism.  The  country  was  visited  to  its  ex- 
tremest  boundaries  by  preaching  monks.  The 
doctrines  of  Shinran  and  Nichiren,  who  reformed 
and  expanded  the  faith  imported  from  India, 
were  propagated  all  over  the  country.  It  was 
during  the  Hojo  era,  also,  that  the  existence  of 
Japan  under  the  name  of  “Zipangu”  was  made 
known  to  Europe  through  the  writings  of  Marco 
Polo. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


BENTEN  AND  THE  DRAGONS. 

Almost  all  Americans  who  travel  in  Japan 
arrive  first  at  Yokohama.  They  make  their  first 
trip  to  Kamakura  and  the  beautiful  island  called 
Enoshima.  Associated  as  these  two  places  and 
the  region  around  are  with  the  Ho  jo,  we  have 
chosen  a characteristic  legend  to  illustrate  the 
local  folk-lore.  The  subjects  here  treated  of  are 
great  favorites  with  Japanese  artists. 

Of  the  four  thousand  isles  of  Japan,  there  is 
not  one  in  the  whole  archipelago  more  lovely  than 
Enoshima,  or  the  Island  of  the  Bay.  It  rises  out 
of  the  blue  sea  like  an  emerald,  and  whether 
viewed  at  the  sunset  hour,  when  the  snow-white  of 
Fuji  Yama  turns  to  gold,  or  with  the  pur])le  hills 
of  Hakone  in  the  background,  or  with  the  azure 
headlands  of  Idzu  or  Oshima  in  perspective,  it  is 
ever  beautiful. 

At  every  high  tide,  or  when  the  wind  blows 
from  the  sea,  Enoshima  is  really  an  island  sur- 
rounded by  water ; but  usually  a long  strip  of  dry 
sand  joins  the  island  to  the  mainland.  One  must 
walk  carefully,  however,  lest  the  waves  with  their 
tangled  foam  roll  over  his  shoes. 


138 


JAPAN 


The  entrance  to  the  rocky  island  is  through  a 
Tori-i,  or  temple  portal,  and  up  a steep  street 
like  a flight  of  stairs.  On  each  side  is  a wonder- 
world  of  color  and  sheen  in  the  museum  of  shells 
and  sponges,  coral  and  sea-fern.  The  “pencil 
coral  ” or  spun  glass,  which  looks  as  though  some 
deep-sea  silkworms  had  been  spinning  a hank  of 
threads,  or  the  glass-blowers  had  made  a plume  of 
spun  glass,  is  here  very  plentiful.  These,  how- 
ever, are  only  the  legs  of  a once  living  animal, 
and  they  are  not  coral,  but  sponges.  Here,  also, 
are  flowers  made  of  tiny  shells  sewn  together. 
Hotels  and  shops  line  the  street,  for  hundreds  of 
pilgrims  visit  this  holy  place  every  year,  and  each 
likes  to  buy  and  take  home  a souvenir  of  the 
wonderful  island. 

Around  in  the  deep-sea  waters  of  this  island 
giant  crabs,  with  bodies  as  big  as  a ham,  and 
whose  arms  or  outstretched  claws  are  as  long  as  a 
hay-rake,  measuring  ten  or  twelve  feet,  are  some- 
times captured.  In  the  deep  holes  around  the 
rocky  shore,  boys  will  dive  into  the  depths  for 
a few  copper  cash ; and  men,  after  first  saying 
their  prayers,  will  plunge  many  feet  to  the  bottom 
and  bring  up  the  aioahi^  called  also  the  haliotus, 
or  sea-ear.  There  is  a long,  narrow  cave  on  one 
side  of  the  island,  in  which  they  say  two  white 
dragons  once  lived,  and  monster  cuttle-fishes  have 
their  lairs  in  the  cavern  holes. 

In  the  olden  time,  before  the  ancestors  of  the 


BEN  TEN  AND  THE  DBAGONS 


139 


Mikado  descended  from  heaven,  or  the  pine-tree 
of  Takasago  flourished,  before  there  was  an  island 
in  the  Bay  of  Sagami,  there  were  great  marshes 
and  ponds  in  this  region  in  which  five  huge 
dragons  lived.  They  were  the  kind  that  make 
food  of  human  beings.  They  especially  liked  to 
devour  children,  because  these  were  more  tender 
to  eat.  No  one  dared  approach  the  dragons’  lair, 
and  as  for  killing  them,  there  was  no  man  brave 
enough  to  attempt  it.  Things  grew  worse  and 
worse.  One  poor  father,  whose  tomb  is  pointed 
out  in  the  temple  graveyard  of  the  village  near 
by,  lost  sixteen  children,  one  after  another.  There 
was  not  only  the  dreadful  danger  of  being  de- 
voured, but  when  the  dragons  were  hungry  the 
heavens  resounded  with  their  growls  and  roaring. 
They  often  fought  each  other,  leaving  the  reeds 
and  rushes  covered  with  blood,  and  the  ground 
littered  with  scales  or  torn  up  with  their  claws, 
like  the  furrows  left  by  a plough.  So  dreadful 
was  the  devastation  caused  that  the  village  was 
I named  Koshigoye,  which  those  who  tell  this  story 
i say  is  derived  from  ho  (child),  shi  (death),  and 
1 hoye  (passing  over),  because  the  inhabitants  had 
; to  emigrate  to  other  regions  after  their  children 
had  been  killed. 

At  last  the  dragons  disappeared.  No  more 
i children  were  eaten  up,  and  the  marshes  became 
fertile  land,  where  the  rice  is  planted  every  June 
and  reaped  every  November.  How  did  it  happen? 


140 


JAPAN 


In  the  sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  the  Mikado 
Kaiku  (157-98  b.  c.)  a great  storm  arose  at 
night  off  the  coast  where  the  dragons’  marshes 
lay.  Black  clouds  covered  the  sea,  and  the  waves 
mounted  to  heaven.  In  the  morning,  celestial 
music  was  heard,  and  through  a rift  an  angelic 
lady  accompanied  by  two  youths  of  surpassing 
beauty  was  seen.  She  was  arrayed  in  long  white 
robes  and  flowing  drapery.  In  her  hands  she 
held  a three  - stringed  lute,  which  she  played, 
striking  the  cords  with  an  ivory  stick.  On  her 
head  was  a crown  of  gold,  set  with  rarest  sea- 
shells  and  gems.  Bracelets  of  gold  clasped  her 
wrists,  and  her  slippers  were  of  velvet,  crusted 
with  fine  gold.  The  storm  ceased,  the  black 
clouds  wholly  lifted  and  gradually  rolled  away. 
Then  there  appeared,  in  the  ocean,  Enoshima,  or 
the  island  of  the  bay. 

The  heavenly  lady  was  sitting  not  on  a cloud, 
but  on  the  top  of  the  island,  on  a basalt  rock, 
flower  - strewn  and  mossy,  which  overhung  the 
waves.  When  the  great  round  sun  rose  out  of 
the  silvery  mist  in  the  eastern  sea,  the  face  of  the 
lady  was  in  the  centre  of  the  disk,  yet  she  seemed 
to  shine  brighter  than  the  heavenly  circle  itself. 

Then  the  dragons  left  their  lair,  and  the  peojDle 
were  no  more  troubled,  and  the  celestial  lady 
was  believed  to  be  mistress  and  tamer  of  the 
dragons.  Wherefore  all  the  people  honored  her 
and  called  her  Benten,  or  the  Heavenly  Lady. 


BEN  TEN  AND  THE  DBAGONS  141 

Benten  is  the  queen  of  the  World  Under  the 
Sea,  and  she  came  up  out  of  the  Under- world, 
or  Biu  Gu,  to  keep  her  dragons  in  order,  and  to 
create  the  lovely  island  of  Enoshima  to  comfort 
the  people  for  their  children  devoured  by  the  dra- 
gons. Without  her  knowledge,  they  had  become 
unruly  and  cruel.  To  make  amends  for  their  de- 
vastation she  gave  to  the  earth  and  mankind  the 
peerless  island. 

Many  centuries  afterward,  Hojo  Tokimasa  came 
to  Enoshima  to  ask  Benten  to  grant  prosperity 
to  his  descendants.  He  wrote  his  prayer  in  the 
form  of  a poem,  and  laid  it  before  her  shrine. 
After  waiting  three  weeks  for  her  appearance, 
she  rose  out  of  the  sea  and  promised  to  grant 
what  he  asked.  She  warned  him,  however,  that 
if  they  should  be  unjust  rulers,  their  power  should 
pass  away  in  the  seventh  generation.  This  came 
to  pass,  for  there  were  only  seven  regents  at 
Kamakura  after  Tokimasa. 

As  she  left  him  to  go  down  into  the  Kiu  Gu, 
she  showed  her  real  body,  which  was  not  that  of 
a woman,  but  partly,  at  least,  that  of  a dragon. 
Hojo  picked  up  from  the  ground  three  of  the 
shining  black  scales  which  had  been  shed  from 
her  body,  and  arranged  them  in  the  form  of  a 
pyramid  for  a crest.  This  trefoil  of  dragon  scales 
became  the  family  mark  of  the  Hojo,  and  was 
embroidered  on  their  flags,  banners,  and  coats, 
stamped  on  their  swords  and  weapons,  and  flashed 


142 


JAPAX 


Id  gold  on  their  helmets.  For  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  years  the  dragon  scales  of  the  Hojo  were 
victorious  in  Japan,  until  Nitta,  the  great  captain, 
destroyed  them  and  burned  Kamakura. 

Benten  is  the  sea-mother  and  the  nurse  of 
Japan,  the  inventor  of  the  lute,  the  guide  of  the 
evening  star,  and  the  model  to  all  good  mothers 
because  she  protected  children  from  the  dragons 
so  long  ago.  Sailors  and  fishermen  especially 
honor  her.  Sometimes  they  see  her  in  the  beau- 
tiful moonlight  nights  of  summer,  sitting  with  her 
lute  on  her  knees  at  the  edge  of  the  cliffs  project- 
ing over  the  waves,  singing  sweet  songs  to  the 
melodious  music  of  the  lute.  So  lovely  is  the 
melody  that  the  evening  star  is  guided  by  it  up 
to  its  place  in  the  sky.  By  it  she  leads  out  the 
tides  in  ebb,  and  sends  them  back  in  flood,  using 
also  the  two  jewels  of  the  flowing  tides,  which  the 
king  of  the  World  Under  the  Sea  gave  to  the 
young  Mikado  Ojin. 

While  Benten  is  queen  of  the  Under-world,  she 
is  on  earth  a model  mother  and  a diligent  house- 
keeper. She  has  fifteen  sons,  all  of  whom  she 
educated  and  trained  to  useful  trades  or  callings,  j 
The  first  is  a government  officer,  as  his  robe  of 
office  shows.  The  second  is  a learned  scholar, 
who  carries  a writing-box,  with  ink-stick,  ink- 
stone,  brush-pen,  and  rolls  of  paper  for  writing. 
The  third  is  a bronze-caster.  The  fourth  is  a 
money-changer,  with  his  lever  scales  for  w^eighing 


! 


BEN  TEN  AND  THE  DU  AGON  S 


143 


coins.  The  fifth,  a farmer,  carries  a bundle  of 
sheaves.  The  sixth,  a merchant,  holds  a grain 
measure  in  his  hand.  The  seventh,  a cake-maker, 
flourishes  a flour-scoop.  The  eighth,  a tailor,  lugs 
a bundle  of  coats  in  his  hand.  The  ninth,  a silk- 
rearer,  bears  a tray  of  mulberry  leaves  for  the 
silkworms  to  feed  on.  The  tenth  is  a sake- 
brewer,  with  keg  and  dippers.  The  eleventh  is 
a priest,  with  the  three-pronged  “ diamond  club,” 
the  emblem  of  his  office,  called  a sanlco.  The 
twelfth  is  the  doctor,  with  his  inro^  or  pill-box. 
The  thirteenth  is  the  breeder  of  animals,  with  his 
horse  and  humped  ox.  The  fourteenth  is  a man- 
ager of  travel  by  land  and  water,  who  lets  out 
boats  or  carts  on  hire.  The  fifteenth,  or  pet  son, 
has  no  business.  He  is  the  “ lion’s  cub,”  as  the 
apple  of  the  indulgent  parent’s  eye  is  called. 

This  is  the  reason  why  Benten  is  the  type  and 
example  to  all  good  mothers,  and  the  ideal  of 
fertility  and  harmony.  There  are  many  golden 
images  of  her  in  which  she  sits  on  a rock  over- 
looking the  blue  sea.  In  the  crested  waves,  and 
partly  wound  round  and  over  the  rocks,  is  a dragon 
sporting  about,  and  holding  in  his  claws  the  crys- 
tal jewel  of  the  flowing  tide.  He  is  bringing  it 
to  his  mistress.  Benten  sits,  many-armed  and 
many-handed,  holding  in  her  left  palm  the  ebb- 
tide jewel.  In  the  other  hands  are  a sceptre,  bow 
and  arrow,  thunder  and  lightning,  while  over  her 
head  is  an  aureole  of  dazzling  raintow  colors.  Her 


144 


JAPAN 


robes  blaze  with  gold.  How  beautiful,  queenly, 
and  motherly  she  looks,  this  tamer  of  the  dragons 
and  mistress  of  the  sea ! 

Benten  has  a dragon’s  nature,  after  all,  and  the 
image  tells  the  story.*  Out  of  her  head  there 
comes  coiling  up  a great  human-headed  serpent. 
Perhaps  she  will  turn  into  a dragon  and  crawl 
away  into  the  sea,  as  she  did  when  Hojo  watched 
her  and  picked  up  three  scales  for  a crest.  All 
that  belongs  to  water  is  changeable.  Liquid,  solid, 
and  gas,  water,  ice,  snow,  frost,  vapor,  hail,  clouds, 
are  all  forms  of  the  one  unstable  element,  water. 
“ Even  fishes  and  birds  turn  into  each  other,”  say 
the  Chinese  sages,  whom  the  Japanese  people  be- 
lieve. Which  is  Benten  and  which  the  dragon, 
and  whether  a snake  or  a beautiful  lady,  they 
can  scarcely  tell.  Her  temples  are  nearly  always 
found  on  islands.  Her  worshipers  never  like  to 
kill  a snake,  for  these  reptiles  are  sacred  to  her. 
As  the  sea,  with  its  commerce  yielding  wealth,  its 
fish  making  food,  and  its  pearls  and  gems  express- 
ing beauty,  attracts  the  sailor,  fisherman,  and 
pearl  merchant,  so  Benten,  the  dragon-goddess, 
draws  to  herself,  as  mistress  of  the  sea,  ten  thou- 
sand worshipers  who  pray  to  her  for  beauty, 
power,  and  wealth. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


THE  ASHIKAGA  SHOGUNS. 

After  Nitta  Yosliisada  and  Asliikaga  Takauji 
had  destroyed  Kamakura  and  restored  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  Mikado,  Japan  had  again  one 
ruler,  court,  and  capital^  in  Kioto.  For  nearly  . 
three  years,  from  1333  to  1336,  monarchy  was 
the  rule. 

Unfortunately  the  spoils  system  had  become  so 
fixed  in  practice  that  the  victors  soon  quarreled 
over  the  division  of  office  and  rewards.  They 
fought  among  themselves,  and  even  set  up  rival 
Mikados,  thus  dividing  the  imperial  family.  Then 
a civil  war,  lasting  fifty-six  years,  broke  out. 
Kusunoki  committed  hara-kiri ; Nitta  died  in  an 
ambuscade  near  Fukui  in  Echizen.  Ashikaga 
Takauji  was  in  1338  appointed  Shogun,  and  re- 
built Kamakura.  Again  duarchy  became  the  po- 
litical system. 

In  this  war  of  the  northern  and  southern  dynas- 
ties, the  imperial  nominee  of  the  Ashikagas  was 
Ilogen,  and  he  and  his  successors  formed  the 
northern  line ; but  the  southern  dynasty,  headed 
by  Go-Daigo,  had  possession  of  the  three  sacred 
regalia,  — mirror,  ball,  and  sword.  As  in  so  many 


146 


JAPAN 


other  matters  analogous  to  European  history,  this 
era  of  rival  Mikados,  or  Sons  of  Heaven,  was 
nearly  contemporaneous  with  that  of  the  rival 
Popes  or  Vicars  of  God  at  Avignon  and  Rome. 

Kioto,  during  most  of  this  wretched  civil  war, 
lay  in  ashes,  and  large  portions  of  the  empire 
were  given  up  to  anarchy.  Finally,  in  1392,  at 
the  request  of  Ashikaga,  the  southern  emperor 
came  to  Kioto,  yielded  up  the  three  sacred  em- 
blems, and,  after  solemn  religious  ceremonies  in 
a temple,  the  feud  was  healed. 

The  Ashikaga  rule  at  Kamakura  lasted  from 
1336  to  1574,  and  the  number  of  Shoguns  was 
fifteen.  The  whole  period  was  one  of  unrest  and 
local  wars,  in  the  form  of  clan  fights  and  feuds  of 
the  dainiios.  Feudalism  was  greatly  developed 
when  the  Ashikaga  rulers  made  the  military  gov- 
ernorships hereditary.  The  dainiios,  or  territorial 
nobles,  often  preyed  upon  each  other,  and  the 
powers  at  Kamakura  were  not  always  able  to 
restrain  their  violence. 

This  was  also  the  age  of  castle-building  and 
the  development  of  the  arts  and  trades,  of  war 
and  of  splendid  spectacles  and  shows,  of  hawking 
and  falconry,  and  of  the  power  of  the  priesthood 
and  the  monasteries.  Most  of  the  great  dainiios 
of  later  fame  laid  the  foundations  of  their  power 
during  this  era.  Novelists,  street  story-tellers,  and 
dramatists  usually  locate  the  time  and  plot  of  their 
works  in  the  Ashikaga  period.  Any  J udas  can 


THE  ASHIKAGA  SHOGUNS 


147 


be  buried  in  this  potter’s  field,  and  the  origin  of 
anything  unusually  bad  or  disgraceful  is  usually 
ascribed  to  “ the  times  of  the  Ashikaga.” 

In  our  own  day,  especially,  the  memory  of  the 
Ashikaga  has  been  execrated  for  their  bad  treat- 
ment of  the  emperors.  While  Columbus  was 
crossing  the  Atlantic,  expecting  to  find  Zipangu 
with  its  gold -roofed  palaces,  the  estate  of  the 
emperors  in  Kioto  was  at  its  worst.  Poor  and 
wretched,  dependent  upon  the  bounty  of  the 
Kamakura  rulers,  while  Kioto  was  the  scene  of 
frequent  battles  and  conflagrations,  their  lot  was 
pitiful.  I have  seen  Japanese  students  weep  as 
they  read  the  story  of  their  wrongs. 

Still  further  did  Yoshimitsu,  the  third  of  the 
Ashikaga  line,  and  others  after  him,  insult  the 
national  dignity.  They  sent  embassies  to  China, 
and  consented  to  receive  from  the  Ming  emperor 
the  title  of  King  of  Japan.  They  also  paid  the 
Chinese  emperor  a tribute  of  a thousand  ounces 
of  gold.  In  this  respect,  they  acted  like  the  vassal 
nations  subject  or  tributary  to  China,  so  that,  to 
the  Chinese,  Japan  seemed  no  longer  an  indepen- 
dent country. 

Although  this  is  the  way  the  matter  looks  to 
some  Chinese  historians,  it  must  not  be  forgot- 
ten that  the  Japanese,  while  not  excusing  the 
Ashikaga,  call  this  money  an  indemnity  for  in- 
juries done  by  Japanese  pirates.  Their  feeling 
has  always  been  like  that  of  the  A mericans,  — 


148 


JAPAN 


“ Millions  for  defence,  but  not  one  cent  for 
tribute.” 

Many  of  the  coast  people  of  Kiushiu,  having 
no  one  to  curb  them,  turned  pirates.  One  daimio 
family  encouraged  piracy,  and  grew  rich  by  pluck- 
ing the  Coreans  and  Chinese.  Ever  adventurous 
and  brave,  the  Japanese  sailors  swarmed  along  the 
coast  of  Asia  from  Tartary  to  Siam.  Not  content 
with  robbing  ships,  they  often  landed,  and  sacked 
and  burned  villages,  towns,  and  even  cities.  These 
“ sea  Japanese  ” caused  such  fear  and  trouble  that, 
to  this  day,  along  the  coast  of  southeastern  China, 
the  mothers  frighten  unruly  children  by  the  cry, 
“ The  Japanese  are  coming.”  The  people  in  more 
than  one  country,  during  this  era,  used  to  pray 
the  gods  in  their  temples  to  deliver  them  from 
the  ravages  of  the  Japanese,  just  as  the  Euro- 
peans prayed  to  be  delivered  from  the  fury  of  the 
Northmen. 

When,  therefore,  the  Chinese  envoys  came  to 
Kamakura  to  complain  of  these  robbers,  it  is  said 
that  Ashikaga  paid  the  gold  as  indemnity,  and  not 
as  tribute. 

Nevertheless,  one  can  easily  understand  how 
the  name  of  the  Ashikaga  is  as  detested  in  Japan 
as  that  of  Benedict  Arnold  is  in  America.  In  the 
excitement  of  1868,  the  rough  fellows  in  Kioto, 
called  ronin^  went  into  certain  temples  where 
carved  wooden  statues  of  the  Shoguns  of  this  fam- 
ily stood  in  honor.  They  first  cut  off  the  heads 


THE  ASHIKAGA  SHOGUNS 


149 


of  the  images,  and  then  stuck  them  up  on  the 
pillory  in  the  common  execution-ground,  where 
outlaws  were  beheaded,  as  if  they  were  real  heads 
of  common  criminals.  They  meant  by  this  that 
they  intended  to  serve  all  oppressors  of  the  Mi- 
kado in  the  same  manner. 

In  the  midst  of  the  worst  national  confusion 
and  disorder  ever  known  in  Japan,  the  first  Eu- 
ropeans arrived  in  that  country.  A Portuguese 
named  Mindez  Pinto,  and  his  two  com]3anions, 
had  taken  passage  in  a Chinese  pirate-junk. 
Driven  away  from  China  by  a storm,  they  reached 
Tanegashima.  Kindly  treated  by  the  people  of 
the  island,  one  of  the  Portuguese  made  the  gov- 
ernor a present  of  his  matchlock,  and  showed  him 
how  to  fire  it.  When  he  brought  down  a duck 
flying  beyond  arrow-range,  the  people,  who  had 
never  seen  such  a thing,  were  amazed.  Country 
people  still  call  a pistol  “ Tanegashima,”  just  as 
our  word  “ bayonet  ” is  named  after  the  place,  Ba- 
yonne, in  France,  where  it  was  first  manufactured. 
The  Japanese  are  quick  to  imitate  anything  they 
want,  and  Pinto  says  that,  during  the  six  months 
they  stayed  on  the  island,  the  skillful  armorers 
there  made  six  hundred  guns.  In  1556,  when  he 
revisited  the  country,  firearms  were  quite  common 
in  many  towns. 

Mendez,  on  his  return  to  Europe,  wrote  a book 
which  was  long  considered  a story  of  the  same 
character  as  “ Robinson  Crusoe.”  He  made  so 


150 


JAPAN 


many  wonderful  statements  that  seemed  lying  ex- 
aggerations that  he  was  dubbed,  by  a pun  on  his 
name,  the  “ Mendacious.”  Thus  unwittingly  he 
helped  to  introduce  a word  into  modern  speech, 
just  as  Mr.  Boycott  of  Ireland  has  done.  Never- 
theless there  was  much  truth  in  the  narrative  of 
Mendez  Pinto’s  adventures,  and  firearms  were  used 
ill  most  battles  in  Japan  from  this  time  forward. 

After  Mendez  Pinto,  who,  instead  of  Columbus, 
was  the  first  known  European  to  reach  Zipangu, 
came  Portuguese  merchants  and  missionaries. 
Francis  Xavier,  a great  and  good  man,  afterwards 
canonized  as  a saint,  after  visiting  Satsuma  and 
other  provinces  went  to  Kioto.  He  probably  ex- 
pected to  see  the  gold-roofed  palace  of  the  Mikado 
about  which  Marco  Polo  had  written.  Instead  of 
a brilliant  city,  he  found  a place  little  better  than 
a camp,  and  soon  after  left  the  country  and  died 
on  the  coast  of  China.  Others  followed  him  from 
Portugal,  and  soon  the  friars,  in  shovel-hats  and 
with  crucifixes  in  their  hands,  were  preaching- 
all  over  the  country.  Their  astonishing  success 
roused  the  jealousy  and  wrath  of  the  Buddhist 
priests,  for  in  fifty  years  they  gained  probably  two 
hundred  thousand  converts.  Some  of  these  were 
daimios,  who  sent  embassies  to  the  Pope.  One 
Japanese  ship  crossed  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  Mexico, 
and  thence  the  envoys  reached  Spain  and  Italy. 
Japanese  travelers  in  our  day  have  discovered  their 
ancestors’  portraits  and  letters  among  the  palaces 


THE  ASlllKAdA  SHOGUNS 


151 


of  Italian  nobles  in  the  city  of  Rome.  Two  mag- 
nificent suits  of  armor  now  in  the  museum  at 
Madrid,  which  these  young  men  presented  to 
Philip  II.,  king  of  Spain,  are  probably  the  oldest, 
as  they  are  among  the  finest,  specimens  of  Japan- 
ese art  and  workmanship  ever  brought  to  Europe. 

Nearly  every  year,  relics  of  the  Japanese  in 
Europe,  and  of  the  native  Christians  and  Jesuit 
missionaries  in  Japan,  come  to  light.  Mr.  Ernest 
Satow  has  told  the  story  of  the  books  printed  at 
the  Jesuit  mission  press  in  Japan.  In  this  year, 
1892,  one  of  the  Mikado’s  envoys  in  Europe  has 
discovered  in  a church  in  Venice  a large  stone 
tablet  commemorating  the  visit,  in  1585,  of  the 
same  young  men  who  presented  the  armor  in 
Madrid. 

Like  all  the  other  Shoguns,  the  Ashikaga 
claimed  descent  from  the  Minamoto,  their  ances- 
I tors  having  settled  in  the  eleventh  century  at  Ashi- 
! kaga,  a village  in  the  province  of  Shimotsuke,  now 
containing  about  two  thousand  people.  The  clan 
and  dynasty  were  destined  to  be  overthrown  by 
Nobunaga,  a man  of  Taira  blood. 

When  Yoritomo  and  the  Genji  were  hunting 
out  the  Heike  to  put  them  to  death,  the  widow  of 
one  Sukemori  fled  with  her  son  into  Omi,  hiding 
in  the  village  of  Tsuda,  where  the  head  man  of  the 
village  married  her.  One  day  a Shinto  priest 
lodging  at  the  house  saw  this  bright  boy,  the 
great-grandson  of  Kiyomori,  and  asked  that  he 


152 


JAPAN 


might  have  him  to  educate  for  the  priesthood. 
Mother  and  step-father  agreed.  He  lived  at  Ota, 
in  Echizeii,  near  the  city  of  Fukui.  When  he 
married,  as  Shinto  priests  do,  he  became  the  com- 
mon ancestor  of  two  great  warriors  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  These  were  Shibata,  whose  tomb  and 
relics  I visited  when  living  in  Echizen,  and  No- 
bunaga,  the  persecutor  of  the  Buddhists. 

Nobunaga  was  trained  to  arms  from  1542  to 
1549  by  his  father,  who  was  a soldier  bent  on 
acquiring  lands  and  castles,  like  most  of  the  barons 
or  daimios  of  the  time.  After  his  father’s  death, 
he  made  himself  master  of  six  provinces  in  cen- 
tral Japan.  Seizing  Kioto,  he  built  the  splendid 
castle  of  Nijo,  now  used  as  the  city  hall.  He  took 
the  side  of  Ashikaga  Yoshiaki  and  had  him  made 
Shogun,  but  after  six  years  quarreled  with  him, 
and  in  1573  deposed  him.  This  act  put  an  end 
to  the  Ashikaga  dynasty,  after  their  rule  of  two 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  years. 

While  the  political  genius  of  this  line  of  rulers 
was  not  great,  as  the  patrons  of  art  the  Ashikaga 
are  remembered  with  gratitude.  Two  of  the  most 
superb  edifices  in  Kioto  are  the  Golden  and  the 
Silver  Pavilions,  which  were  built  by  them. 
Though  much  despoiled,  they  are  still  visited 
greatly  by  tourists.  Gold  and  silver  were  lavishly 
used  in  the  woodwork,  and  the  most  skillful  artists 
were  employed  to  decorate  the  walls  and  ceilings. 
By  their  patronage  of  literature  and  art,  a new 


THE  ASHIKAGA  SHOGUNS 


153 


era  of  painting,  poetry,  and  original  prose  com- 
position was  ushered  in  during  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  the  founders 
of  the  great  national  art  flourished  in  this  period. 
Meisho  (1351-1427),  a priest  in  Kioto,  painted 
the  death  of  Shaka  (Buddha)  for  the  first  time 
in  Japan.  It  still  exists  in  a temple,  measures 
twenty-six  by  thirty-nine  feet,  and  has  been  copied 
hundreds  of  times.  Other  famous  painters  whose 
works  now  command  great  prices  were  Josetsu, 
Shiubun,  the  two  Kanos,  and  Sesshiu.  The  in- 
fluence of  China  and  Persia  on  the  native  art  is 
very  noticeable,  but  from  this  time  forth  the  art 
of  Japan  has  more  power  and  originality.  Land- 
scape, flowers,  birds,  and  subjects  drawn  from 
history  and  mythology  are  boldly  treated.  With- 
out oil,  or  our  fashion  of  framing  in  gilt  wood, 
Japanese  paintings  on  panels,  or  wall-hangings 
called  kakemono^  increase  in  value  and  interest 
the  more  they  are  studied. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


THREE  FAMOUS  MEN. 

Long  before  the  fall  of  the  Ashikaga,  Kama- 
kura, having  been  repeatedly  burned  and  sacked, 
had  ceased  to  be  a place  of  importance.  Kioto 
was  the  only  seat  of  general  government.  The 
office  of  Shogun  now  fell  into  abeyance.  With 
his  two  generals,  Hideyoshi  in  the  south  and 
ly^yasii  in  the  east,  Nobunaga  soon  had  most  of 
Japan  under  his  control.  His  aim  was  to  make 
the  Mikado  supreme,  and  to  restore  the  imperial 
dignity.  He  never  took  the  title  or  office  of 
Shogun,  which  only  men  of  Minamoto  blood 
claimed ; but  as  Nai  Dai  Jin,  or  Inner  Great 
Minister,  he  ruled  the  empire  in  the  Mikado’s 
name. 

Nobunaga  handled  the  Buddhists  roughly,  for 
he  considered  that  they  were  sometimes  traitorous 
and  warlike,  and  he  was  himself  at  heart  a fana- 
tical Shintoist.  He  patronized  the  Jesuit  priests 
and  granted  them  many  favors.  In  the  year 
1582,  when  but  forty-nine  years  old,  in  the  height 
of  his  power,  he  was  assassinated  in  Kioto  by  one 
of  his  traitorous  captains  named  Akechi.  His 
tomb  of  granite  stands  in  the  keep,  or  highest 


THREE  FAMOUS  MEN  155 

point,  of  liis  old  castle  of  Adzuclii-Yama,  overlook- 
ing Lake  Biwa. 

After  Nobun aga,  who  was  more  of  a soldier 
than  a statesman,  had  “ changed  his  world,”  Hi- 
deyoshi,  who  was  as  able  in  government  as  in 
battle,  took  his  place.  Hideyoshi  is  usually  called 
Taiko.  He  rose  to  the  highest  rank  a subject 
could  hold,  though  he  had  once  been  only  a stable- 
boy.  He  became  great  through  sheer  merit.  In 
his  lifetime  he  had  as  many  names  as  there  are  in 
a chapter  of  Chronicles.  His  m.other  called  him 
“Bright  Sun,”  others  “Small  Boy”  and  “Monkey 
Pine.”  Enlisting  as  a soldier,  Nobunaga  called 
him  “The  Man  under  a Tree.”  When  a comman- 
der the  people  nicknamed  him  “ Cotton,”  because 
he  was  good  for  as  many  uses  as  cotton.  When  he 
became  a general  he  united  the  names  of  two  of 
his  lieutenants  and  called  himself  Ha-shiba.  He 
made  a banner  out  of  a gourd,  and  every  time  he 
gained  a victory  he  added  a new  gourd,  until 
there  were  as  many  gourds  as  there  are  ribs  to  an 
umbrella.  As  the  gourd-banner  was  never  seen 
in  retreat,  but  always  in  victory,  the  soldiers  loved 
to  follow  it. 

As  soon  as  Hideyoshi  heard  of  the  death  of 
Nobunaga,  he  hurried  to  Kioto,  and  slew  Akechi, 
the  assassin,  and  spoiled  his  ambitions.  The  pro- 
verb, “ Akechi  ruled  three  days,”  is  still  applied 
" 0 those  clothed  with  brief  authority  who  soon 
fall. 


15G 


JAPAN 


After  a campaign  in  Echizen,  in  which  Shi- 
bata  was  beaten  and  forced  to  commit  hara-kiri, 
and  his  castle  at  Fukui  was  burned,  Hideyoshi 
returned  to  Kioto  and  began  to  develoj)  the  re- 
sources of  the  empire.  He  rebuilt  the  city  mag- 
nificently, improved  Fushimi,  and  made  Nagasaki 
an  imperial  port. 

Peace  now  smiled  upon  the  country  and  its 
wealth  increased,  so  that  Hideyoshi  became  very 
popular.  He  obtained  from  the  Mikado  the  pa- 
tent of  a family  name,  Toyotomi.  Not  being  able 
probably  to  tell  who  his  grandfather,  and  possibly 
even  his  father,  was,  he  gave  out  that  his  mother 
before  his  birth  had  dreamed  that  the  sun  had 
entered  her  body,  and  that  he  was  conceived  of 
this  luminary.  Such  a dream  was  very  common 
with  Corean  and  Japanese  mothers,  and  one  often 
reads  of  such  incidents  in  Oriental  history.  On 
account  of  this  alleged  dream  he  had  taken  the 
name  of  Hideyoshi,  which  is  composed  of  Hi 
(sun),  de  (out  of,  or  from),  and  yoshi  (good), 
meaning  “ well  conceived  of  the  sun,”  or  “ well 
born  of  the  sun.” 

Hideyoshi  could  not  be  Shogun,  any  more  than 
Nobunaga,  but  in  1586  he  obtained  the  office  of 
Kuambaku,  or  Premier,  which  only  nobles  of  Fu- 
ji wara  blood  had  ever  held.  When,  therefore, 
these  proud  high-capped  and  blue-blooded  huge 
saw  the  little  wizen-faced  man  wearing  the  official 
head-dress  and  silken  robes  in  an  office  known 


THREE  FAMOUS  MEN 


157 


only  to  their  Heaven-descended  ancestors,  some 
of  them,  behind  his  back,  called  him  the  “ Saru 
I kuan  ja,”  or  the  “ Crowned  Monkey.”  In  1591 
he  resigned  this  office  in  favor  of  his  son,  and  be- 
i came  Taiko  (retired).  Hence  he  is  usually  styled 
Taiko  Sama. 

I Probably  no  one  subject  of  the  emperor  ever 
' had  so  much  power  as  Hideyoshi.  He  used  it  in 
the  name  of  the  Mikado,  but  in  reality  he  devel- 
oped still  further  feudalism,  which  is  always  op- 
posed to  monarchy  as  well  as  to  democracy.  In 
theory,  all  the  land  of  Japan  belongs  to  the  empe- 
ror. Feudalism  divides  up  the  land  and  gives  it 
to  hundreds  of  vassals,  who  become  obedient  to 
the  chief  military  lord,  while  the  people  on  the 
land  become  tenants,  and  often  little  better  than 
slaves.  Yoritomo  first  swallowed  up  the  civil  in 
the  military  power  by  putting  his  own  relations 
and,  vassals  over  the  various  provinces.  The  Ashi- 
kaga  carried  the  system  further  by  making  the 
military  governorships  hereditary,  and  thus  the 
lands  governed  were  practically  the  property  of 
the  soldier-lords  who  governed  them.  Hideyoshi 
boldly  took  the  step  of  parceling  out  the  whole 
empire,  and  giving  lands  to  daimios,  without  ever 
asking  the  Mikado  or  consulting  with  the  court. 

Although  the  country  was  now  at  peace,  yet 
war  had  been  the  rule  for  generations,  and  there 
were  hundreds  of  thousands  of  soldiers  who  lived 
by  arms.  How  could  they  be  employed  ? Taiko 
patronized  art,  and  invented  the  cha  no  yu,  or 


158 


JAPAN 


tea-ceremonies,  by  which  they  were  amused  for  a 
time,  but  they  were  not  easily  weaned  from  war. 
Further,  some  of  the  leading  generals  were  Chris- 
tians, while  their  rivals  were  Buddhists.  With 
native  and  foreign  priests  hostile  and  jealous,  and 
the  foreigners  even  suspected  of  designs  against 
Japan,  how  could  the  rivals  be  kept  from  quarrel- 
ing ? How  could  peace  and  a stable  government 
be  maintained? 

These  were  questions  which  Hide}^oshi  began 
to  consider  just  when  his  own  ambition  made  him 
think  of  conquering  Corea  and  even  China.  Was 
not  Corea  properly  subject  to  Japan,  on  account 
of  the  former  conquest  of  Jingu  Kogo?  The 
Coreans  had  not  sent  any  tribute  since  early  in 
the  century,  and  this  Hideyoshi  used  as  a pretext 
of  invasion.  So,  in  spite  of  embassies  and  nego- 
tiations, two  veteran  armies  were  ordered  to  ad- 
vance on  the  Corean  capital,  and  a war  lasting 
from  1592  to  1597  began.  At  first  the  Japanese 
were  victorious.  They  captured  the  Corean  capi- 
tal and  many  stone-walled  castles,  and  occupied 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  eight  provinces.  When, 
however,  the  Chinese  allies  entered  Corea  with 
vast  armies,  the  Japanese  were  forced  to  retreat. 
Bloody  battles  and  long  sieges,  and  the  feeding  of 
two  great  armies,  left  Corea  in  a state  of  desola- 
tion, from  which  she  has  hardly  yet  recovered. 
Japan  probably  lost  a hundred  thousand  men  in 
battle  and  disease  by  this  war.  The  Japanese 
name  is  still  execrated  in  Corea. 


THREE  FAMOUS  MEN 


159 


In  1598  Taiko  Sama  died,  and  Corea  was 
evacuated.  The  armies  brought  back  immense 
! treasures  and  spoils  from  the  monasteries  and 
houses  of  the  nobles.  Thousands  of  Corean  pris- 
oners who  remained  in  Japan,  or  skilled  work- 
men imported,  introduced  new  arts  and  trades. 
The  celebrated  Satsuma  potters  were  Coreans. 
In  Kioto,  beside  many  other  reminders  and  relics, 
the  great  ear-tomb,  built  in  the  go-rin  or  five- 
tiered form  on  the  top  of  a mound,  covers  several 
thousand  ears  severed  from  Corean  corpses  as 
ghastly  tokens  of  Japanese  victory. 

The  age  of  Taiko  was  one  of  great  activity  in 
war,  industry,  art,  literature,  and  navigation.  It 
deserves  a history  by  itself.  In  many  seas  and 
countries  of  the  East,  Japanese  voyaged  or  made 
settlements,  and  the  traders,  pirates,  and  settlers 
carried  afar  the  fame  of  the  great  Taiko.  In 
domestic  politics,  by  following  up  the  work  of 
Nobunaga,  overcoming  the  feudal  chieftains,  hum- 
bling Satsuma,  Choshiu,  and  the  other  great  clans, 
Taiko  prepared  the  way  for  lyeyasu,  and  made 
his  work  easy.  Of  this  great  man,  Taiko’s  suc- 
cessor, we  shall  now  speak. 

In  the  twelfth  century,  one  of  the  younger  sons 
of  Minamoto  Yoshiiye  took  the  name  of  Toku- 
gawa,  and  the  family  settled  in  the  province  of 
Kodzuke.  In  the  fourteenth  century,  driven  out 
in  the  wars  of  the  Ashikaga,  they  took  refuge  at 
the  village  of  Matsudaira,  in  Mikawa. 


IGO 


JAPAN 


One  of  the  young  sons  adopted  by  the  mayor 
of  the  village  took  this  name,  Matsudaira,  which 
was  formally  assumed  by  his  descendants,  and 
has  been  so  famous  for  the  last  three  hundred 
years.  It  is  said  that  the  father  of  lyeyasu,  in 
1529,  when  returning  from  a victorious  expedition 
in  Mikawa  was  entertained  by  his  vassal  Honda 
in  his  castle  at  Ina.  During  the  feast,  Honda 
presented  his  guest  with  some  cakes  served  on  a 
round  wooden  tray.  The  refreshments  had  been 
neatly  laid  on  three  asarum  or  wild-ginger  leaves. 
Seeing  these  three  leaves  in  a circle  the  successful 
warrior  cried  out,  “ I have  received  these  leaves 
while  returning  victorious,  therefore  I shall  adopt 
them  as  my  crest.” 

This  trefoil  badge  of  three  asarum  or  Japanese 
“ hollyhock  ” leaves  laid  inside  of  a ring  is  seen 
on  thousands  of  art-objects  in  gold,  silver,  lacquer, 
silk,  or  wood.  For  over  two  hundred  years,  on 
flags,  banners,  temples,  baggage,  and  dresses,  as 
the  Tokugawa  crest,  it  overshadowed  even  the  im- 
perial chrysanthemum. 

lyeyasu  was  born  in  1542,  and  served  under 
both  Nobunaga  and  Hideyoshi.  He  built  a splen- 
did castle  at  the  city  now  called  Shiozuoka.  He 
overcame  the  “ second  Ho  jo  ” family,  who  had  a 
castle  at  Odawara.  Since  Kamakura  had  become 
a village  of  little  importance,  lyeyasu  chose  another 
place,  called  Yedo  (“  Bay-door  ”),  as  the  site  of 
his  future  city. 


THREE  FAMOUS  MEN 


161 


lyeyasu  made  peace  with  Corea  and  sent  home 
many  of  the  Corean  prisoners.  He  then  began 
to  watch  the  movements  of  the  warlike  generals 
and  southern  daimios  who  had  returned.  They 
were  flushed  with  victory,  and  wanted  to  have 
their  own  way.  Many  of  them  leagued  them- 
selves together  as  the  retainers  of  Hideyori,  the 
son  of  Taiko.  War  soon  broke  out,  and  the 
army  of  the  league  and  the  eastern  army  of 
lyeyasu  met  in  battle  at  Sekigahara,  or  The 
Field  of  the  Barrier,  in  October,  1600.  lyeyasu 
achieved  a complete  and  decisive  victory.  Being 
now  virtually  ruler  of  all  Japan,  and  the  man  for 
the  work  at  hand,  the  Mikado  and  court,  early 
in  1603,  made  him  Sei-i  Tai  Shogun.  Hencefor- 
ward Yedo  was  to  take  the  place  of  Kamakura. 

lyeyasu  laid  out  the  new  city  in  grand  outline, 
and  gradually  built  it  in  splendid  style.  He  also 
reconstructed  the  feudal  map  of  Japan,  dividing 
the  country  into  nearly  three  hundred  fiefs  or 
principalities.  He  put  his  most  faithful  retainers 
near  Yedo  and  Kioto,  and  so  arranged  friends, 
foes,  and  rivals,  that  none  of  his  enemies  could 
successfully  combine  against  him,  or  seize  Kioto 
or  the  Mikado.  He  gave  audience  to  the  Dutch 
and  English  merchants,  encouraged  foreign  trade, 
revived  the  study  of  literature,  collected  books 
and  manuscripts,  developed  the  national  resources, 
and  cultivated  the  arts  of  peace. 

He  had  but  one  campaign  to  fight,  and  that 


1G2 


JAPAN 


was  ill  1615,  wlien  the  castle  of  Osaka  was  be- 
sieged, and  the  malcontents  who  had  gathered 
round  Hideyori  were  scattered.  lyeyasii  died  in 
1616.  His  bones,  after  resting  for  a year  at 
Kuno  Zan,  were  borne  in  grand  procession  to 
Nikko,  the  most  beautiful  place  in  Japan. 

The  successors  of  lyeyasu,  the  Shoguns  of  the 
Tokngawa  dynasty,  carried  out  the  founder’s  ideas, 
and  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  successful  campaign  at  Shimabara 
in  1637,  against  the  Christians  who  had  risen  in 
rebellion,  the  land  had  perfect  peace. 

In  this  long  interval  of  peace,  the  feudal  system 
was  perfected.  The  or  court  nobles,  in 

Kioto,  sprung  from  gods  and  Mikados,  and  in- 
tensely proud  of  their  blue  blood  and  immemorial 
lineage,  lived  quietly  in  the  enjoyment  of  flowers, 
poetry,  and  etiquette.  In  one  sense,  Kioto  was 
the  sacred  city  ; the  kiige  formed  a college  of  car- 
dinals ; and  the  Mikado  was  an  infallible  Pope. 
Between  1612  and  1866,  fourteen  occupants  of 
the  throne,  two  empresses  and  twelve  emperors, 
reigned,  but  none  was  of  any  personal  importance, 
or,  so  far  as  known,  influenced  history. 

Of  the  daimios,  or  nobles  who  possessed  land 
and  ruled  their  provinces  or  dominions  as  heads 
of  clans,  eighteen  were  Koku-shiu  (rulers  of  prov- 
inces) whose  capitals  were  large  cities,  and  whose 
revenues  amounted  to  millions  of  dollars.  Most 
of  these  daimios  of  the  first  rank  traced  their  de- 


THBEE  FAMOUS  MEN 


163 


scent  to  the  military  governors  appointed  by  Yo- 
ritomo.  Those  of  Kaga,  Satsuma,  Sendai,  Echi- 
zen,  Hijo,  Choshiu,  and  Hizen  were  among  the 
best  known,  and  some  were  relatives  of  lyeyasii. 
This  was  the  case  with  the  lord  of  Echizen,  in 
I whose  dominions,  at  the  capital  city  of  Fukui,  the 
writer  spent  the  year  1871.  Two  daimios,  Sataki 
I and  Nambu,  claimed  to  be  descendants  of  Ojin,  the 
god  of  war. 

After  the  eighteen  great  di^mios  who  ruled 
provinces,  came  those  called  Kamon,  also  eighteen 
in  number.  These  were  relatives  of  the  Toku- 
gawa  family,  and  took  the  name  Matsudaira.  The 
Tozama,  or  outside  lords,  that  is,  not  relatives  of 
the  Tokugawa,  numbered  nearly  one  hundred.  Of 
the  Eudai,  or  successive  families,  who  were  de- 
scendants of  the  vassals  of  lyeyasii,  there  were 
four  clans  or  families  distinguished  by  the  term 
Kin-shin,  or  relatives,  from  whom  the  regent  was 
chosen  when  the  Shogun  was  a minor.  Eighteen 
other  clans  were  called  the  Old  Eudai,  and  held 
in  special  honor,  because  their  ancestors  served 
Tyeyasu  before  he  was  the  Shogun  of  all  Japan. 
The  head  of  the  Eudai  daimios  was  li,  Kamon  no 
Kami,  lord  of  Hikone,  on  Lake  Biw^a,  and  in  a 
sense  the  guardian  of  Kioto. 

In  addition  to  all  these  pow^erful  vassals,  the 
Shogun  had  an  army  of  eighty  thousand  soldiers, 
called  hata~moto^  or  flag-supporters,  at  his  beck 
and  call.  lyeyasii  prohibited  the  western  daimios 


164 


JAPAN 


from  entering  Kioto,  and  made  many  other  severe 
restrictions.  lyemitsu,  the  third  Shogun  of  the 
Tokugawa  line,  began  the  custom  of  having  all 
the  daimios  spend  half  the  year,  or  every  other 
year,  in  Yedo,  leaving  their  wives  and  children  as 
hostages  when  in  their  own  domains. 

Gradually,  the  Yedo  government  grew  more 
oppressive,  and  often  purposely  kept  certain  dai- 
mios poor  by  enforced  gifts  or  expensive  public 
works.  The  processions  of  these  feudal  lords  to 
and  from,  and  while  in  Yedo,  were  usually  very 
imposing.  In  the  case  of  the  Koku-shiu,  they 
numbered  a thousand  men  or  more,  — the  display 
of  horses,  furniture,  equipage,  decorative  spears, 
umbrellas,  banners,  and  all  sorts  of  feudal  insig- 
nia, making  a gay  parade.  These  constant  move- 
ments made  the  high  roads  very  lively,  and  gave 
to  the  people  of  the  villages  through  which  they 
passed  a spectacular  treat.  They  also  furnished 
the  hotels  with  business,  and  kept  Yedo  and  the 
large  cities  full  of  gay  shops.  When  a train 
passed  by,  all  horsemen  must  dismount,  the  com- 
mon people  kneel  down,  and  everyone  remove  his 
head-covering.  To  refuse  to  obey  these  rules  was 
an  insult  to  the  daimio,  and  might  result  to  the 
offender  in  a beating  or  death.  When  foreigners 
came  to  live  in  Japan,  some  of  them  lost  their 
lives  from  not  knowing  these  customs. 

Government  existed  mainly  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Samurai ; and  the  other  classes,  especially  the 


THREE  FAMOUS  MEN 


165 


traders,  had  few  rights  which  the  sword-wearers 
were  bound  to  respect,  while  the  beggars  and  Eta 
and  hi-nin,  two  of  the  very  lowest  of  the  many 
grades  of  humanity  in  feudal  Japan,  had  no  rights 
whatever. 

In  passing  over  the  details  of  history  during 
the  Tokugawa  period  from  1603  to  1868,  except 
to  say  that  fifteen  Shoguns  ruled,  seven  of  the 
direct  line  of  lyeyasil,  seven  of  the  house  of  Kii, 
and  one  of  the  house  of  Mito,  we  shall  glance  at 
the  life  of  the  people  as  reflected  in  their  art- 
symbols,  folk-lore,  and  household  superstitions, 
and  then  note  the  forces  which  shattered  the 
system  of  lyeyasu  and  produced  New  Japan. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


IDEAS  AND  SYMBOLS. 

W HEN  we  take  a walk  in  J apan,  we  notice  that 
the  landscape  and  nearly  everything  in  it  are  dif- 
ferent from  what  we  should  see  at  home  in  Amer- 
ica or  Europe.  In  our  American  Northern  States 
the  landscape  has  been  formed  by  the  glacier.  In 
Japan,  the  volcano  and  earthquake  have  been  the 
chief  shaping  forces.  Many  of  the  trees  and 
flowers  are  similar  to  ours,  and  Dr.  Asa  Gray  has 
shown  that  there  is  a wonderful  likeness  between 
the  Japanese  and  American  flora.  Yet,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  camphor,  camellia,  and  cryptomeria 
trees,  the  groves  of  bamboo,  and  the  many  varieties 
of  lilies,  azaleas,  and  asters  show  great  differences, 
or  remind  us  that  we  have  borrowed  many  things 
in  our  gardens  from  the  land  of  camellias.  We 
should  notice  that  both  tropical  and  arctic  plants 
abound,  as  though  the  Japanese  archipelago  were 
a meeting-place  of  many  currents  from  many 
climes. 

But  what  would  remind  us  more  than  anything 
else  that  we  were  in  a strange  country  would  be 
the  bright-red  pagodas  peeping  out  among  the 
evergreen  trees,  and  the  wayside  shrines  of  idols 


IDEAS  AND  SYMBOLS 


167 


at  the  cross-roads  and  under  the  brows  of  the  hills. 
The  curious  gateways  of  stone  or  wood,  called  the 
tori-i^  or  “ bird-rests,”  leading  to  little  temples 
hidden  away  in  the  shrubbery,  would  often  strike 
the  eye.  Frequently  we  should  see  the  pathway 
shadowed  by  a score  or  more  of  these  curious 
wicket-like  structures. 

If  we  went  into  a cemetery,  beautiful  though  it 
might  be  with  trees  and  shrubs,  we  should  notice 
at  once  a different  sort  of  tombs.  The  absence 
of  the  symbols  of  hope  and  of  the  resurrection 
would  be  at  once  noticeable.  In  place  of  these, 
we  should  find  square  columns  well  incised  with 
Chinese  characters.  Near  new  graves,  or  jars  of 
fresh  ashes,  we  should  find  flat  boards  covered  with 
Sanscrit  symbols.  Though  so  far  away  from  India, 
this  Sanscrit  writing,  and  the  ringed  and  banded 
masses  of  stone  that  look  like  miniature  pagodas, 
are  very  common.  Imposing  five-tiered  monuments 
rise  over  the  dust  or  ashes  of  the  rich  or  famous. 
These  are  made  of  a cube,  a sphere,  a pyramid, 
a crescent  and  a flame-shaped  stone.  The  in- 
scriptions, could  we  read  them,  would  be  found  in 
some  respects  very  different  from  ours,  though 
in  others  much  the  same.  Fresh  flowers  set 
before  the  tombs  would  prove  that  many  hearts 
still  remembered  the  dead. 

Walking  along  the  streets  of  town  or  city,  we 
should  see  no  gilded  weathercocks,  domes,  or 
spires  with  flashing  cross.  The  house  corners 


168 


JAPAN 


and  ends  of  public  buildings,  on  which  men  like 
to  put  ornaments  that  mean  something,  would 
show  figures  very  different  from  ours.  Yet  all 
would  be  interesting  and  full  of  meanins:.  It 
would  show  us  that  their  world  of  ideas,  their 
history  of  the  past,  their  education  and  discipline 
of  mind,  their  material  for  dreams  and  fairy  tales, 
and  poetry  and  art,  grew  up  where  ours  did  not. 
To  travel  in  Japan  is,  in  one  sense,  like  visiting 
the  moon,  supposing,  as  the  Japanese  fairy  tales 
do,  that  the  moon  is  inhabited. 

In  Christendom,  law,  society,  customs,  art,  and 
even  lanofuao^e  are  much  alike.  But  in  the  Chi- 
nese  world,  and  in  Buddhadora,  the  thoughts  and 
the  manner  of  expressing  thoughts  in  books, 
pictures,  statuary,  architecture,  all  kinds  of  art, 
and  even  in  the  garden  and  the  burying-ground, 
are  very  different. 

The  Japanese  do  not  like  things  square,  or 
balanced,  or  symmetrical,  either  in  decoration  or 
in  landscape.  A Japanese  gardener,  in  preparing 
a bit  of  ground  in  order  to  make  a park  or  gar- 
den, does  not  follow  our  stiff  and  regular  methods. 
In  subduing  wild  nature  into  more  perfect  beauty 
he  does  not  destroy ; he  only  trains  and  educates^ 
Whether  his  garden  be  in  a little  box  a foot 
square,  or  in  a park  of  many  acres,  he  will  have 
a landscape  like  that  which  nature  has  made. 
There  must  be  hills,  valleys,  a waterfall,  a stream- 
let, a lake,  with  trees,  bushes,  shrubs,  grass,  and 


IDEAS  AND  SYMBOLS 


169 


flowers.  This  is  nature’s  part.  Then  there  must 
be  paths,  stepping-stones,  lanterns,  seats,  hedges, 
bridges,  gateways,  a well,  guide  and  notice  boards, 
a little  cottage  or  pavilion,  a moon-viewing  cham- 
ber, or  tower  of  observation ; with  perhaps  a pail 
of  cakes  for  feeding  the  goldfish,  and  a pebbled 
strand  or  jetty  to  stand  on.  This  is  man’s  part. 

All  this,  when  complete,  will  be  a perfect  mar- 
riage of  nature  and  art,  charming  to  the  eye  and 
harmonious  with  the  sense  of  beauty.  Still  further, 
it  will  awaken  thought,  and  be  as  enjoyable  as 
music  or  poetry.  It  will  please  the  mind  as  well 
as  the  eye.  To  the  cultivated  person,  each  step- 
ping stone,  path,  hillock,  ornament  in  bronze,  wood, 
or  stone,  will  have  a meaning,  and  will  call  up  to 
the  imagination  some  pleasant  association  as  surely 
as  the  key-note  suggests  a tune,  or  our  words, 
“ Mid  pleasures  and  palaces,”  call  to  mind  the 
tender  sentiment  and  music  of  “ Home,  Sweet 
I Home,”  or  an  orange  blossom  tells  of  a bride  and 
I wedding,  or  a cradle  compels  one  to  think  of  a 
! baby. 

In  the  cemetery  each  letter,  shape,  and  figure 
has  a meaning.  Near  newly-made  graves,  or  the 
hollow  tombs  which  contain  the  fresh  ashes  from 
the  cremation  house,  staves  of  wood  stand  upright. 
On  these  are  inscribed  the  Sanscrit  bongo  or 
priest’s  letters.  The  particular  letter  oftenest 
used  is  a symbol  of  the  human  frame,  summing  up 
in  its  meaning  head,  arms,  breast,  body,  and  legs. 


170 


JAPAN 


Near  the  temple  will  usually  be  seen  a pagoda, 
which  is  a many-storied,  tall  column  of  hand- 
somely carved  wood,  painted  vermilion.  The 
number  of  stories,  five,  seven,  nine,  or  eleven, 
must  be  an  odd  one.  Originally  it  was  an  act  of 
merit  to  place  such  structures  over  the  graves  of 
departed  friends.  The  first  were  built  in  India, 
usually  over  the  relic  of  some  Buddhist  saint.  In 
China  the  pagoda  is  called  by  a name  meaning 
“ the  white  bone  tower,”  but  in  Japanese  the 
word  to  means  only  a column.  The  roofs  and 
edges  of  the  stories  or  platforms  are  curved  up- 
wards, like  the  roofs  of  temples  and  tori-i.  Lit- 
tle brass  wind-bells,  which  clink  and  rattle  in 
every  breeze,  are  hung  on  the  corners  of  many 
houses  and  high  places,  and  make  an  odd  kind  of 
music  whenever  a breath  of  air  is  stirring.  One 
of  Bakin’s  prettiest  stories  is  called  “ The  Golden 
Wind-Bell  of  Kamakura.” 

Certain  curious  fossils  found  in  limestone,  when 
cut  open,  look  like  pagodas,  and  the  common  folks 
believe  these  are  caused  by  the  pagoda  shadows 
falling  on  the  earth.  The  tops  of  these  wooden 
towers,  which  in  Japan  are  almost  always  square, 
are  surmounted  by  copper  spindles  full  of  rings,  as 
many  as  there  are  stories  in  the  pagoda.  The  tip 
of  the  spire  thus  looks  like  the  plume  or  pom2:>on 
of  a helmet.  Often  on  the  top  of  this  corkscrew- 
looking affair  is  a vane-like  sheet  of  copper,  cut 
along  the  edges  to  resemble  a flame  of  fire ; and. 


IDEAS  AND  SYMBOLS 


111 


surmounting  the  whole,  is  the  tama^  or  jewel 
which  symbolizes  the  soul.  In  time  of  a severe 
earthquake,  this  pagoda  spire  sways  and  rocks 
like  a pendulum  turned  upside  down ; but  the 
pagodas  are  well  built,  and  are  rarely  or  never 
overthrown.  Indeed,  some  of  these  square  tow^ers 
are  hollow  like  a bell,  and  have  a great  pendulum 
or  tongue  of  heavy  wood  inside  hanging  through- 
out their  whole  length.  This  helps  the  tall  mass 
to  keep  the  centre  of  gravity  during  the  rocking 
of  the  earth. 

This  tama^  or  jewel,  also  called  the  “ sacred 
pearl,”  is  an  emblem  of  the  soul,  and  in  Japanese 
the  word  for  “ soul  ” and  “ jewel  ” is  the  same. 
It  is  properly  a crystal  ball,  or  pear-shaped  gem, 
grooved  or  ringed  at  the  top  near  the  stem.  On 
Japanese  pictures,  trays,  cabinets,  and  bronzes 
we  may  see  it  held  in  the  dragon’s  claw,  or  the 
dragons  are  fighting  for  it,  or  it  is  wreathed  in 
fire,  or  it  is  set  in  places  of  honor,  or  the  Dragon 
King  of  the  World  Under  the  Sea  presents  a pair 
to  Ojin,  the  baby  Mikado  who  goes  to  conquer 
Corea.  It  is  the  jewel  of  the  ebbing  and  the 
flowing  tide,  controlling  the  movements  even  of 
the  ocean.  Indeed,  the  sacred  jewel,  in  some 
form,  plays  a wonderful  part  in  Japanese  my- 
thology, fairy  tales  and  art.  One  of  the  prettiest 
stories  in  which  it  figures  is  that  of  Tan  Kai  Ko. 
A fisher-maid  is  beloved  by  a court  noble,  and 
for  his  sake  dives  down  beneath  the  sparkling 


172 


JAPAN 


waves  into  Riu  Gu,  and,  defying  the  dragons^  seizes 
the  holy  jewel  and  brings  it  up  to  earth.  The 
Japanese  are  very  fond  of  rock-crystal  halls,  and 
the  lapidists  carve  them  so  skillfully  from  the  flaw- 
less quartz  that,  when  resting  on  a tripod  of  silver, 
each  seems  like  a floating  bubble. 

What  is  the  origin  of  the  idea,  and  how  was  the 
symbol  evolved  ? 

The  Buddhists  believe  that  when  the  body  of  a 
saint  or  holy  person  is  cremated,  there  will  be 
found  in  the  ashes  a hard,  shining  substance  like 
a gem.  It  is  called  a shari^  and  it  used  to  be 
eagerly  looked  for  in  the  ashes  of  the  cremation 
furnace.  This,  when  found,  was  usually  smaller 
than  a pea.  It  was  then  carefully  inclosed  in  a 
little  shrine  or  box  shaped  like  a pagoda.  This 
“ pocket  god-house  ” was  made  of  rock-crystal, 
and  the  shari^  or  soul-substance,  was  easily  visible 
through  the  transparent  stone.  I have  several 
times  seen  these  pocket  pagodas  containing  one, 
two,  or  three  shari  in  the  compartments  or  stories 
of  the  little  upright  cases,  which  are  from  two 
to  five  inches  high.  They  are  the  equivalents  and 
visible  manifestation  of  the  souls  of  the  departed. 
Of  course  it  was  not  difficult  to  find  shari,  where 
there  were  so  many  priests  ready  to  assist  the 
credulous.  A thousand  years  ago,  these  little  soul- 
caskets  were  made  in  the  form  of  a tomb,  that  is, 
in  five  parts,  which  we  shall  describe  below.  Little 
models  of  the  actual  tombs  built  in  the  cemeteries 


IDEAS  AND  SYMBOLS 


173 


were  also  made  in  clay,  about  three  inches  high, 
and  kejit  in  houses  or  temples.  The  top  of  each 
miniature  tomb  or  pagoda  was  fashioned  like  the 
pear-shaped  tama,  or  emblem  of  the  soul. 

Now,  if  we  go  out  into  a burial-ground,  we  shall 
see,  over  the  graves  or  ashes  of  rich  or  saintly 
j)eople,  the  go-rin^  or  five-blossom  tomb.  It  con- 
sists of  a cube,  sphere,  cone,  crescent,  and  flame- 
shaped stone.  The  cubic  square  represents  earth ; 
the  water-drop  or  ball,  water ; the  pyramid,  flame 
or  fire ; the  saucer  or  crescent,  wind  or  air ; and 
the  top,  which  takes  the  form  of  a flame  just  go- 
ing out,  represents  the  tama^  soul  or  jewel.  In 
other  words,  here  are  the  five  elements  out  of 
which  man  is  made,  and  to  which  he  returns  after 
death  — earth,  water,  fire,  air,  and  ether.  Though 
the  emblem  of  the  spirit  is  usually  spherical,  yet 
very  often,  again,  it  is  pear-shaped  or  grooved  near 
the  top.  Hence  it  is  probable  that  the  ringed 
and  pear-shaped  jewel  is  only  a conventional 
and  condensed  form  of  the  go-rin^  or  the  five 
elemental  essences. 

In  modern  times,  also,  by  gradual  evolution,  the 
go-rin  tomb  has  become  the  graceful  to-ro^  or 
stone  garden -lantern,  and  the  superb  bronze  lamp- 
holder, taller  than  a man.  Hundreds  of  these, 
as  memorial  offerings  of  the  vassal  princes  to  the 
Tycoons,  are  found  in  the  outer  courts  of  the 
cemeteries  in  Tokio  and  Nikko.  When,  at  night, 
the  numberless  lamps  in  these  prettily  sculptured 


. 174 


JAPAN 


light-bearers  are  lighted,  and  twinkle  through  the 
trees,  the  effect  is  like  that  of  fairyland.  In  many 
of  these,  in  front  of  temples,  the  lamp  burns  from 
sunset  to  sunrise.  On  one,  I remember  reading 
the  inscription,  “To  give  light  during  the  long, 
dark  night.” 

The  custom  of  the  military  vassal’s  bringing  a 
gift  when  he  visited  his  lord  is  a very  old  one  in 
Japan.  lyeyasu  and  his  successors  reduced  it  to 
a system.  In  Yedo,  the  two  large  parks,  Uyeno 
and  Shiba,  were  set  apart  to  be  the  burial-grounds 
of  the  Shoguns,  and  were  made  to  excel  even 
Nikko  in  splendor.  All  that  art  and  wealth  could 
devise  were  lavished  in  the  adornment  of  the 
groves,  gardens,  gates,  courts,  temples,  and  tombs. 
At  these  places  one  can  study  the  wonderful  rich- 
ness of  Japanese  memorial  and  decorative  art. 
Very  noticeable,  in  the  pebbled  outer  courtyards 
of  Shiba,  are  the  hundreds  of  high  stone  lanterns, 
arranged  row  upon  row  like  the  ranks  of  an  army, 
the  gifts  of  the  Fudai  daimios.  In  the  next  court 
stand  the  superb  bronzes ; and  nearest  the  shrine 
stands  a trio  of  colossal  lanterns  covered  with 
gold,  the  gift  of  the  San-ke,  or  three  princely 
families,  Mito,  Kii,  and  Owari. 


CHAPTER  XXL 


THE  ASHES  THAT  MADE  TREES  BLOOM. 

The  specimen  of  Japanese  folk-lore  here  given 
illustrates  life  among  the  common  people  during 
the  Tokugawa  times,  and  their  Buddhistic  beliefs. 
We  tell  it  in  the  same  style  in  which  it  is  usually 
narrated  in  Japan. 

In  the  good  old  days  of  the  daimios,  there  lived 
an  old  couple  whose  only  pet  was  a little  dog. 
Having  no  children,  they  loved  it  as  though  it 
w'ere  a baby.  The  old  dame  made  it  a cushion 
of  blue  crape,  and  at  meal-time  Muko  — for  that 
was  its  name  — would  sit  on  it  as  demure  as  any 
cat.  The  kind  people  fed  the  pet  with  tidbits  of 
fish  from  their  own  chopsticks,  and  it  was  allowed 
to  have  all  the  boiled  rice  it  wanted.  Whenever 
the  old  woman  took  the  animal  out  with  her  on 
holidays,  she  put  a bright-red  silk  crape  ribbon 
around  its  neck.  Thus  treated,  the  dumb  creature 
loved  its  protectors  like  a being  with  a soul. 

Now  the  old  man,  being  a rice-farmer,  went 
daily  with  hoe  or  spade  into  the  fields,  working 
hard  from  the  first  croak  of  the  raven  until  O 
Tento  Sama  (as  the  sun  is  called)  had  gone  down 
behind  the  hills.  Every  day  the  dog  followed 


ITG 


JAPAN 


him  to  work,  and  kept  near  hy,  never  once  harn> 
ing  the  white  heron  that  walked  in  the  footsteps 
of  the  old  man  to  pick  up  the  worms.  For  the 
old  fellow  was  kind  to  everything  that  had  life, 
and  often  turned  up  a sod  on  purpose  to  give  food 
to  the  sacred  birds. 

One  day  doggy  came  running  to  him,  putting 
his  paws  against  his  straw  leggings,  and  motioning 
with  his  head  to  some  spot  behind.  The  old  man 
at  first  thought  his  pet  was  only  playing,  and  did 
not  mind  it.  But  the  dog  kept  on  whining  and  run- 
ning to  and  fro  for  some  minutes.  Then  the  old 
man  followed  the  dog  a few  yards  to  a place  where 
the  animal  began  a lively  scratching.  Thinking 
it  only  a buried  bone  or  bit  of  fish,  but  wishing 
to  humor  his  pet,  the  old  man  struck  his  iron-shod 
hoe  in  the  earth,  when,  lo ! a pile  of  gold  gleamed 
before  him. 

He  rubbed  his  old  eyes,  stooped  down  to  look, 
and  there  was  at  least  a half  peck  of  hobans^  or 
oval  gold  coins.  He  gathered  them  up  and  hied 
home  at  once. 

Thus,  in  an  hour,  the  old  couple  were 'made 
rich.  The  good  souls  bought  a piece  of  land, 
made  a feast  to  their  friends,  and  gave  plentifully 
to  their  poor  neighbors.  As  for  doggy,  they  petted 
him  till  they  nearly  smothered  him  with  kindness. 

Now  in  the  same  village  there  lived  a wicked 
old  man  and  his  wife,  who  had  always  kicked  and 
scolded  all  dogs  whenever  any  passed  their  house. 


ASHES  THAT  MADE  TREES  BLOOM  177 

Hearing  of  their  neighbors’  good  luck,  they  coaxed 
the  dog  into  their  garden  and  set  before  him  bits 
of  fish  and  other  dainties,  hoping  he  would  find 
treasure  for  them.  But  the  dog,  being  afraid  of 
the  cruel  pair,  would  neither  eat  nor  move. 

Then  they  dragged  him  out  of  doors,  taking  a 
spade  and  hoe  with  them.  No  sooner  had  doggy 
got  near  a pine-tree  growing  in  the  garden  than 
he  began  to  paw  and  scratch  the  ground,  as  if  a 
mighty  treasure  lay  beneath. 

“ Quick,  wife,  hand  me  the  spade  and  hoe  ! ” 
cried  the  greedy  old  fool,  as  he  danced  with  joy. 

Then  the  covetous  old  fellow,  with  a spade,  and 
the  old  crone,  with  a hoe,  began  to  dig ; but  there 
was  nothing  but  a dead  kitten,  the  smell  of  which 
made  them  drop  their  tools  and  shut  their  noses. 
Furious  at  the  dog,  the  old  man  kicked  and  beat 
him  to  death,  and  the  old  woman  finished  the 
work  by  nearly  chopping  off  his  head  with  the 
sharp  hoe.  They  then  flung  him  into  the  hole, 
and  stamped  down  the  earth  over  his  carcase. 

The  owner  of  the  dog  heard  of  the  death  of 
his  pet,  and,  mourning  for  him  as  if  it  had  been 
his  own  child,  went  at  night  under  the  pine-tree. 
He  set  up  some  bamboo  tubes  in  the  ground,  such 
as  are  used  before  tombs,  in  which  he  put  fresh 
camellia  flowers.  Then  he  laid  a cup  of  water 
and  a tray  of  food  on  the  grave,  and  burned  sev- 
eral costly  sticks  of  incense.  He  mourned  a great 
while  over  his  pet,  calling  him  many  dear  names, 
as  if  he  were  alive. 


178 


JAPAN 


That  night  the  spirit  of  the  dog  appeared  to 
him  in  a dream  and  said  : — 

“ Cut  down  the  pine-tree  which  is  over  my 
grave,  and  make  from  it  a mortar  for  your  rice 
pastry,  and  a mill  for  your  bean  sauce.” 

So  the  old  man  chopped  down  the  tree,  and 
cut  out  of  the  middle  of  the  trunk  a section  about 
two  feet  long.  With  great  labor,  partly  by  fire, 
partly  by  the  chisel,  he  scraped  out  a hollow 
place  as  big  as  a half-bushel.  He  then  made  a 
great,  long-handled  hammer  of  wood,  such  as  is 
used  for  pounding  rice.  When  New  Year’s  time 
drew  near,  he  wished  to  make  some  rice  pastry. 
So  the  white  rice  in  the  basket,  and  the  fire  and 
pot  to  boil  the  rice  dumplings,  and  the  pretty  red 
lacquered  boxes,  were  got  ready.  The  old  man 
knotted  his  blue  kerchief  round  his  head,  the  old 
lady  tucked  up  her  sleeves,  and  all  was  ready  for 
cake-making. 

When  the  rice  was  all  boiled,  granny  put  it  in 
the  mortar,  and  the  old  man  lifted  his  hammer  to 
pound  the  mass  into  dough,  and  the  blows  fell 
heavy  and  fast  till  the  pastry  was  all  ready  for 
baking.  Suddenly  the  whole  mass  turned  into  a 
heap  of  gold  coins.  When,  too,  the  old  woman 
took  the  hand-mill,  and,  filling  it  with  bean  sauce, 
began  to  grind,  the  gold  dropped  like  rain. 

Meanwhile  the  envious  neighbor  peeped  in  at 
the  window  when  the  boiled  beans  were  being 
ground. 


ASHES  THAT  MxlDE  TREES  BLOOM  179 


“ Goody  me  ! ” cried  the  old  hag,  as  she  saw 
each  dripping  of  sauce  turning  into  yellow  gold, 
until  in  a few  minutes  the  tub  under  the  mill  was 
full  of  a shining  mass  of  kohaiis  (oval  gold-pieces), 
“ I ’ll  borrow  that  mill,  I will.” 

So  the  old  couple  were  rich  again.  The  next 
day  the  stingy  and  wicked  neighbor,  having  boiled 
a mess  of  beans,  came  and  borrowed  the  mortar 
and  magic  mill.  They  filled  one  with  boiled  rice, 
and  the  other  with  beans.  Then  the  old  man 
began  to  pound  and  the  woman  to  grind.  But  at 
the  first  blow  and  turn,  the  pastry  and  sauce 
turned  into  a foul  mass  of  worms.  Still  more 
angry  at  this,  they  chopped  the  mill  into  pieces, 
use  as  firewood. 

Not  long  after  that,  the  good  old  man  dreamed 
again,  and  the  spirit  of  the  dog  spoke  to  him, 
telling  him  how  the  wicked  people  had  burned  the 
mill  made  from  the  pine-tree. 

“ Take  the  ashes  of  the  mill,  sprinkle  them  on 
withered  trees,  and  they  will  bloom  again,”  said 
the  dog-spirit. 

The  old  man  awoke,  and  went  at  once  to  his 
wicked  neighbor’s  house,  where  he  found  the  mis- 
erable old  pair  sitting  at  the  edge  of  their  square 
fireplace,  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  smoking  and 
spinning.  From  time  to  time  they  warmed  their 
hands  and  feet  with  the  blaze  from  some  bits  of 
the  mill,  while  behind  them  lay  a pile  of  the 
broken  pieces. 


180 


JAPAN 


The  good  old  man  humbly  begged  the  ashes, 
and  though  the  covetous  couple  turned  up  their 
noses  at  him,  and  scolded  him  as  if  he  were  a 
thief,  they  let  him  fill  his  basket  with  the  ashes. 

On  coming  home,  the  old  man  took  his  wife 
into  the  garden.  It  being  winter,  their  favorite 
cherry-tree  was  bare.  He  sprinkled  a pinch  of 
ashes  on  it,  and,  lo ! it  sprouted  blossoms  until  it 
became  a cloud  of  pink  blooms  which  perfumed 
the  air.  The  news  of  this  filled  the  village,  and 
every  one  ran  out  to  see  the  wonder. 

The  covetous  couple  also  heard  the  story,  and, 
gathering  up  the  remaining  ashes  of  the  mill,  kept 
them  to  make  withered  trees  blossom. 

The  kind  old  man,  hearing  that  his  lord  the 
daimio  was  to  pass  along  the  high  road  near 
the  village,  set  out  to  see  him,  taking  his  basket 
of  ashes.  As  the  train  approached,  he  climbed 
up  into  an  old  withered  cherry-tree  that  stood 
by  the  wayside. 

Now,  in  the  days  of  the  daimios,  it  was  the  cus- 
tom, when  their  lord  passed  by,  for  all  the  loyal 
people  to  shut  up  their  second-story  windows. 
They  even  pasted  them  fast  with  a slip  of  paper, 
so  as  not  to  commit  the  impertinence  of  looking 
down  on  his  lordship.  All  the  people  along  the 
road  would  fall  upon  their  hands  and  knees,  and 
remain  prostrate  until  the  procession  passed  by. 
Hence  it  seemed  very  impolite,  at  first,  for  the  old 
man  to  climb  the  tree  and  be  higher  than  his 
master’s  head. 


ASHES  THAT  MADE  TREES  BLOOM  181 


The  train  drew  near,  with  all  its  pomp  of  gay 
banners,  covered  spears,  state  umbrellas,  and 
princely  crests.  One  tall  man  marched  ahead, 
crying  out  to  the  people  by  the  way,  “ Get  down 
on  your  knees  ! Get  down  on  your  knees ! ” And 
every  one  kneeled  down  while  the  procession  was 
passing. 

Suddenly  the  leader  of  the  van  caught  sight  of 
the  aged  man  up  in  the  tree.  ' He  was  about  to 
call  out  to  him  in  an  angry  tone,  Ifnt,  seeing  he 
was  such  an  old  fellow,  he  pretended  not  to  notice 
him  and  passed  him  by.  So,  when  the  daimio’s 
palanquin  drew  near,  the  old  man,  taking  a pinch 
of  ashes  from  his  basket,  scattered  it  over  the  tree. 
In  a moment  it  burst  into  blossom. 

The  delighted  daimio  ordered  the  train  to  be 
stopped,  and  got  out  to  see  the  wonder.  Calling 
the  old  man  to  him,  he  thanked  him,  and  ordered 
presents  of  silk  robes,  sponge-cake,  fans,  a nHsulce 
(ivory  carving),  and  other  rewards  to  be  given 
him.  He  even  invited  him  to  visit  him  in  his 
castle. 

So  the  old  man  went  gleefully  home  to  share 
his  joy  with  his  dear  old  wife. 

But  when  the  greedy  neighbor  heard  of  it,  he 
took  some  of  the  magic  ashes  and  went  out  on  the 
highway,  There  he  waited  until  a daimio’s  train 
come  along,  and,  instead  of  kneeling  down  like  the 
crowd,  he  climbed  a withered  K*heiTy-tree. 

When  the  daimio  himself  was  almost  directly 


182 


JAPAN 


under  him,  he  threw  a handful  of  ashes  over  the 
tree,  which  did  not  change  a particle.  The  wind 
blew  the  fine  dust  in  the  noses  and  eyes  of  the 
daimio  and  his  Samurai.  Such  a sneezing  and 
choking  ! It  spoiled  all  the  pomj)  and  dignity  of 
the  procession.  The  man  whose  business  it  was 
to  cry,  “ Get  down  on  your  knees,”  seized  the  old 
fool  by  the  top-knot,  dragged  him  from  the  tree, 
and  tumbled  him  and  his  ash-basket  into  the  ditch 
by  the  road.  • Then,  beating  him  soundly,  he  left 
him  for  dead. 

Thus  the  wicked  old  man  died  in  the  mud,  but 
the  kind  friend  of  the  dog  dwelt  in  peace  and 
plenty,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  lived  to  a green 
old  age. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


SIGNS  AND  OMENS. 

Now  that  the  Japanese  are  being  civilized  after 
the  Western  fashion,  a great  many  of  the  old 
beliefs  of  the  people  are  passing  away.  Men  of 
science,  the  doctors,  and  the  boys  and  girls  taught 
in  the  public  schools  laugh  at  the  ideas  of  their 
grandmothers.  In  the  cities  and  towns  the  old 
folk-lore  and  fireside  stories,  are  being  forgotten, 
and  the  household  customs  and  superstitions  are 
fading  away.  In  the  country  they  linger  longer, 
and  millions  of  Japanese  still  believe  that  cutting 
the  finger  nails  too  closely  weakens  the  strength, 
that  drinking  milk  produces  skin  diseases,  or  that 
washing  the  head  on  “ the  day  of  the  horse  ” will 
make  their  hair  red. 

The  doctors  are  busy  in  showing  the  Japanese 
that  the  laws  of  good  health  demand  that  they 
give  up  wearing  straw  sandals  and  wooden  clogs, 
and  put  on  leather  boots  and  shoes.  They  tell 
them  to  furnish  their  houses  with  chairs  and 
tables,  and  that  plenty  of  soap  skillfully  applied, 
and  frequent  changes  of  under-clothing,  are  good 
for  them.  But  the  country  folks  are  very  apt  to  do 
as  their  fathers  did.  Their  houses  are  built  under 


184 


JAPAN 


the  spell  of  superstitions  ideas,  rather  than  for 
comfort  or  health.  But  as  in  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, in  spite  of  science,  some  people  think  there 
are  dismal  forebodings  in  a raven’s  croak  and  luck 
in  a horseshoe,  that  it  is  not  well  to  sit  at  dinner 
with  thirteen  people  or  begin  a journey  on  Fri- 
day ; so  in  Japan  fears  and  hopes  are  awakened 
by  certain  signs  and  omens.  Let  us  look  at  a 
few  of  these. 

I have  known  Samurai  gentlemen,  who  were 
fathers  and  wished  their  sons  and  daughters  to  go 
up  in  the  world,  who  looked  well  to  their  gardens. 
They  would  never  have  a grapevine  growing  near 
their  houses,  because^  the  fruit  hangs  downward. 
The  words  mari  sagaru^  to  hang  down,  to  descend 
from  a high  station  in  life  to  a low  one,  to  become 
poor,  would  be  sometimes  spoken.  It  might  mean 
that  the  boys  and  girls  would  also  sink  in  the 
world.  Such  words  of  evil  omen  are  avoided,  and 
whatever  might  suggest  them  is  removed  from 
sight. 

Some  of  these  household  superstitions  bear  a 
striking  resemblance  to,  or  are  exactly  like,  our 
ideas  on  the  same  subject.  Thus,  the  apj)earance 
of  white  spots  on  the  finger-nails  indicates  to  the 
possessor  that  she  is  to  receive  a gift.  The  more 
numerous  the  spots,  the  more  dresses  and  pre- 
sents she  will  receive.  Young  ladies  especially 
believe  this. 

When  a person’s  left  ear  itches,  some  one  is 


SIGNS  AND  OMENS 


185 


talking  evil  of  him  ; if  his  right  ear,  good.  When 
both  ears  need  scratching,  people  are  talking 
variously. 

The  croaking  of  the  crow  is  a harbinger  either 
of  sorrow  or  gladness.  Usually  it  is  the  former ; 
but  when  the  crow  croaks  with  his  throat  towards 
a house  in  “jumping  notes,”  the  master  will  often 
cry  out,  “ Uketa^  ukHa  ” (I  accept  it),  and  expect 
some  accidental  good  fortune  to  befall  him.  When 
many  crows  assemble  near  a house  and  caw,  it  is 
a sign  of  misfortune  to  that  house.  Strange  to 
say,  lovers  hear  in  the  notes  of  the  crow  the  tones 
of  love  and  affection. 

It  is  very  easy  to  make  puns  in  Japanese,  and 
a great  many  times  the  pun  is  shown  to  the  eye 
by  an  orange,  walnut,  radish,  charcoal,  or  some 
other  object,  as  well  as  by  a word  to  the  ear. 
A person  about  to  start  on  a journey  is  often 
presented  with  a package  containing  a walnut 
(Jcurume  : kuru^  come  back,  me,  man,  — “ May 
you  return  safely”),  peas  (jname,  healthy,  active, 
busy),  and  a piece  of  dried  fish,  which  expresses 
the  hope  that  he  may  be  well  preserved  while 
away. 

If  a person  meet  a funeral  cortege  in  the  street, 
it  is  a fortunate  omen  ; but  if,  in  walking  along, 
the  procession  overtakes  him,  it  is  extremely  un- 
fortunate. In  such  a case,  the  person  overtaken 
will  rush  ahead  into  a house  or  shop  to  be  out 
of  sight.  In  passing  a house  in  which  there  is  a 


186 


JAPAN 


corpse,  many  people  put  their  thumb  inside  their 
fist  to  keep  off  the  evil. 

A child  will  die  within  the  next  three  years  if 
he  be  struck  with  a broom,  beckoned  to  with  a 
dipper,  or  if  he  fall  down  in  a graveyard.  A 
child  is  taught  to  eat  carefully,  and  to  handle  the 
chopsticks  deftly,  by  being  warned  that  it  will 
become  a cow  if  it  drop  the  rice  on  its  clothes. 

When  people  suffer  from  chronic  ague,  if  a 
mirror  can  be  put  under  the  bed  of  the  patient, 
without  his  knowing  it,  he  will  recover.  In  some 
other  diseases,  the  calcined  leg-bone  of  a man, 
taken  from  the  cremation  house,  put  under  his 
head  in  the  same  way,  will  effect  the  same  result. 
A Samurai  often  put  the  sword  of  the  sick  man 
in  the  same  place  for  the  same  purpose. 

Many  daimios  and  their  high  officials  formerly 
would  not  eat  a roast  herring  (konoshiro : hono^ 
also  this,  shiro^  castle)  because  they  were  afraid 
their  castle  would  be  burned  or  destroyed. 

A persevering  lover,  who  would  but  cannot  win 
his  obdurate  charmer,  will  succeed  in  melting  her 
heart  and  making  her  love  him,  if  he  scatter  upon 
her,  unknown  to  her,  some  ashes  of  a water-lizard 
previously  calcined  and  pulverized. 

In  pouring  out  oil  for  the  lamp  during  lean  (the 
coldest  part  of  winter,  late  January  or  early  Feb- 
ruary), if  by  accident  even  a single  drop  of  oil 
is  spilled  on  the  floor,  some  damage  will  be  done 
by  fire  to  the  house.  This,  however,  may  be 


SIGNS  AND  OMENS 


187 


averted  by  sprinkling  a few  drops  of  water  on  the 
head  of  the  spiller  of  oil.  I have  known  plenty 
of  amusement  at  the  observance  of  this  ceremony. 
As  in  many  other  instances,  the  old  superstition 
has  decayed  into  fun,  and  the  merry  laughing  re- 
minded me  of  an  old  plum-tree  stump  buried  in  a 
mass  of  pink  blossoms. 

A shooting  or  “ creeping  ” star  denotes  that  a 
soul  has  left  the  body.  Some  one  is  dead. 

When  a person  sneezes  once,  some  one  is  prais- 
ing him ; when  two  nasal  explosions  occur,  he  is 
being  decried  ; if  he  cachinnates  three  times  suc- 
cessively, he  has  taken,  or  will  take  cold.  The 
Japanese  who  has  taken  cold  sa}^s : “Kaje  wo 
tatta  ” (I  have  caught  wind). 

When  the  sun  is  seen  to  shin^  on  falling  rain, 
instead  of  announcing  that  “ the  devil  is  beating 
his  wife,”  the  Japanese  people  say  that  foxes  are 
marrying.  The  artists  always  represent  the  foxes 
going  to  a wedding  in  a shower. 

A comet  portends  earthquake,  famine,  typhoon, 
war,  or  some  other  great  calamity. 

A Japanese  boy  who  sees  a sparrow  walking 
by  putting  one  foot  before  the  other,  like  a duck, 
instead  of  leaping  with  both  feet,  is  as  happy  as 
the  Irish  boy  who  discovers  a four-leaf  clover  for 
the  first  time. 

It  is  supposed  that  in  a thunder-storm  it  is 
perfectly  safe  to  take  refuge  at  the  side  of  a 
mulberr}^-tree,  which  in  Japan  is  kept  at  a height 


188 


JAPAN 


rarely  over  six  feet,  as  tlie  lightning  never  strikes 
the  mulberry-tree. 

When  a swarm  of  bees  alight  near  a house  and 
make  their  honey,  it  is  a sign  of  great  prosperity 
coming  to  that  house. 

If  a man  find  a fan  lying  in  the  road,  he  is 
likely  to  be  a member  of  some  noble  family  in 
the  future. 

On  New  Year’s  Day,  merchants  shut  the  doors 
of  their  storehouses,  lest  good  fortune  depart. 
People  never  sweep  the  floor  on  that  day,  lest 
good  luck  be  also  swept  away. 

A man  who  borrows  money  and  gives  his  pro- 
missory note  affixes  his  stamp  upon  the  paper 
several  times,  always  making  an  odd  number.  If 
stamped  with  an  even  number  the  note  is  not 
likely  to  be  paid.  In  Japan  a seal  is  even  more 
important  than  a signature,  and  the  government 
requires  voters  to  stamp  their  ballots,  and  thus 
to  reinforce  their  sign  manual. 

If,  while  dressing  the  hair,  either  masculine 
queue  or , feminine  coifiure,  the  hairstring  be 
broken,  the  omen  is  a sinister  one.  A wife  may 
lose  her  husband,  or  a man  his  best  friends. 

It  is  a very  bad  custom  to  stick  cliop-sticks 
upright  in  a bowl  of  rice,  for  this  is  done  for  the 
dead. 

By  looking  intently  in  a mirror  at  the  hour  of 
two  in  the  morning,  one  may  see  the  future  of  her 
life.  A lady  once  tried  to  prove  this  assertion, 


SIGNS  AND  OMENS 


189 


and,  looking  in  the  mirror,  saw  the  figure  of  a 
beggar  having  her  own  countenance.  After  that 
she  paid  great  attention  to  economy,  and  lived 
happily  and  in  comfort  all  her  life ; but  at  her 
death,  a mat  such  as  beggars  wrap  themselves  in 
fell  down  on  the  roof  of  her  house,  which  proved 
that  she  had  become  a beggar  in  the  other  world ! 

The  udoge  is  the  name  given  to  a very  delicate 
fiower  which  in  rare  instances  blooms  on  a slen- 
der stem  growing  out  of  the  ceiling  or  walls  of  a 
room,  perhaps  generated  by  the  warmth  and  mois- 
ture. Its  appearance  is  hailed  with  passionate 
delight  by  all  natives  of  Japan,  from  noble  to 
peasant’s  child.  To  the  official,  it  is  a harbinger 
of  promotion  ; to  the  merchant, . wealth  ; to  the 
farmer,  bounteous  crops ; to  the  student,  success 
in  acquiring  knowledge. 

The  etiquette  of  the  table  requires  that  the 
chopsticks  should  be  laid  at  the  right  of  the  eater. 
A gentleman  or  ordinary  person,  on  sitting  down 
to  a meal  and  discovering  that  his  chopsticks 
are  laid  on  his  left,  will  be  very  angry,  and  per- 
haps refuse  to  eat ; for  criminals  also  have  their 
meals  thus  served. 

A person  does  not  like  to  receive  any  present 
which  has  no  noshi  upon  it,  because  this  is  omitted 
in  presents  made  to  or  for  the  dead.  A noshi  is 
a piece  of  gay-colored  paper  folded  in  a particular 
way,  and  always  accompanying  presents. 

Three  persons  will  never  sweep  a room  together, 


190 


JAPAN 


lest  they  see  a spectre  at  night.  The  same  num- 
ber will  never  hang  up  a mosquito-net  together 
for  the  same  reason.  Mosquito-nets  are  called 
ha~cho  (mosquito-houses),  and  are  of  the  same 
size  as  the  whole  room. 

Whenever  the  master  of  the  house,  or  father  of 
a family,  starts  on  a journey,  it  is  quite  common 
to  prepare  his  meals  at  home  as  usual  while  he  is 
away.  This  is  done  in  order,  as  is  supposed,  to 
propitiate  his  shadow,  and  avoid  all  risks  of  hun- 
ger while  away  from  home.  Photography  at  first 
was  very  unpopular,  because  it  was  supposed  that 
every  time  a person  had  his  picture  taken  he  lost 
a certain  portion  of  his  soul,  which  went  through 
the  camera  into  the  photograph. 

When  a mother  has  died  leaving  a young  infant, 
the  clothes  of  the  new-born  orphan,  that  may  have 
hung  in  the  air  during  the  day,  are  carefully 
taken  into  the  house  at  night.  The  reason  for 
this  is,  that  the  spirit  of  the  dead  mother  comes 
in  the  form  of  a bird,  and,  hovering  near  the  gar- 
ments of^  her  child,  makes  it  long  for  her  and 
causes  it  to  cry. 

Curious  superstitions  about  the  dog,  the  cat,  the 
fox,  and  the  badger  taking  human  shape,  or  en- 
tering into  men  and  women  so  as  to  possess  their 
souls,  have  for  many  centuries  been  current,  and 
the  wonderful  stories  about  them  would  fill  a 
library.  Public  schools,  telegraphs,  and  railroads 
are  rapidly  driving  these  creations  of  diseased 


SIGXS  AND  OMENS 


191 


brains  into  oblivion  ; yet  the  newspapers  show  that 
such  phantoms  of  the  imagination  die  hard.  The 
foxes,  that  used  to  turn  into  daimios  and  lead 
processions,  now  become  locomotives  and  railway 
trains.  It  will  be  a good  many  years  yet  before 
the  last  fox  story  is  told  in  J apan. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


THE  DUTCH  YEAST  IN  THE  JAPANESE  CAKE. 

Iyeyasu  and  his  line  of  Shoguns  made  it  their 
business  to  build  a sort  of  Chinese  wall  around 
Japan.  More  exactly,  they  trusted  that,  like  a 
castle  with  a great  ditch  or  moat  filled  with  water 
all  around  it,  Japan,  with  the  ocean  on  all  sides, 
could  defy  the  enemy  of  change.  Their  policy 
was  the  double  one  of  shutting  out  the  foreigners 
and  shutting  in  the  natives.  All  ships  larger  than 
a certain  size  were  burned.  No  Japanese  must 
leave  the»country  on  pain  of  death.  No  ship- 
wrecked natives  were  to  be  returned  by  foreigners. 
On  every  high  road,  in  the  village  and  on  the  city 
streets,  were  hung  the  edicts  prohibiting  Christi- 
anity. Thus  the  rulers  expected  to  keep  out  all 
disturbing  forces.  Whatever  was  like  seed  or 
leaven  must  be  destroyed.  Japan  was  to  be  in- 
vulnerable. It  was  to  be  a baptism  of  Achilles 
in  the  Styx  on  a national  scale. 

Yet  all  history  shows  that  some  little  detail  is 
omitted  even  in  the  best-laid  plans  of  men. 
Achilles’  heel  is  vulnerable  ; and  a leaf  falls  on 
the  back  of  Siegfried  when  he  is  dipped  in  the 
pool  of  dragon’s  blood.  Both  heroes  lose  their 


DUTCH  YEAST  IN  THE  JAPANESE  CAKE  193 

lives  through  the  weak  spot.  So  with  the  Japan- 
ese. They  are  a people  always  full  of  curiosity. 
The  Yeclo  rulers  wanted  to  know  what  was  going 
on  elsewhere  in  the  world.  They  therefore  kept 
a peep-hole  to  spy  out  what  other  folks  were  doing. 

Like  rulers,  like  people.  Many  a time,  while 
traveling  in  the  country,  I found  at  the  hotel  that 
the  white  stranger  was  looked  at  through  the 
paper  sliding  partitions.  In  the  other  rooms,  with 
stealthy  footsteps,  the  women,  and  often  the  males, 
would,  with  finger  moistened  in  the  mouth,  noise- 
lessly punch  a hole  in  the  mulberry  paper.  Chan- 
cing to  look  up,  I could  see  a flashing  black  eye  at 
each  hole. 

After  all,  it  was  only  a paper  wall  the  Japanese 
were  able  to  build.  They  punctured  it  at  Naga- 
saki. Here,  at  Deshima,  or  the  Outward  Island, 
they  allowed  the  Dutch  to  settle  and  build  a 
factory,  as  a trading-house  was  then  called.  Dur- 
ing twelve  months,  the  Hollanders  gathered  up 
Japanese  products  and  merchandise  to  exchange 
for  European  goods.  Once  a year  the  ships  from 
Kotterdam  or  Amsterdam  came  to  bring  news  and 
products. 

The  Dutch  traders  lived  at  Deshima  under  very 
strict  rules,  like  the  old  German  Hanse  merchants 
in  mediaeval  London.  The  Yedo  rulers  thought 
no  harm  could  come  from  keeping  this  little  peep- 
hole on  the  world.  So,  like  Thornrose  in  her 
castle,  with  all  her  doors  barred,  pretty  Japan, 
the  Princess  Country,  fell  asleep. 


194 


JAPAN 


This  settlement  of  the  Dutchmen,  however, 
proved  to  be  like  the  tiny  aperture  in  the  dike 
that  lets  the  flood  come  in ; or  as  the  little  seed 
dropped  by  the  bird  that  tears  down  the  masonry ; 
or  the  leaven  that  changes  all  the  old,  and  puts  in 
its  place  something  entirely  different.  Let  us  see 
how  the  Dutch  helped  to  give  us  the  New  Japan. 

It  was  when  the  Dutch  Republic  was  struggling 
against  Spain  and  her  mighty  armies  that  she  sent 
out  her  first  ships  to  the  far  East.  At  first,  only 
the  Portuguese  knew  the  sea  path  and  had  the 
charts.  A Dutchman  named  De  Vries,  when  in 
Portugal,  made  copies  of  the  charts.  Armed  with 
these  and  good  cannon  and  cutlasses,  two  little 
Dutch  ships  in  1598  sailed  against  the  sun  month 
after  month  until  into  the  China  seas.  One 
of  them  was  wrecked,  but  the  other,  named 
Charity,  which  had  on  board  an  Englishman, — 
one  of  the  ten  thousand  then  in  Holland  learn- 
ing republican  ideas, — reached  Sakai,  near  Osaka, 
in  1600.  The  Englishman’s  name  was  IVill 
Adams.  The  local  governor  told  them  to  go  up 
to  Yedo.  But  in  the  bay,  not  far  from  the  spot 
where  our  Commodore  Perry  anchored  his  war- 
steamers  in  1853,  the  Dutch  ship  was  wrecked. 
Will  Adams  and  the  Dutchmen  had  to  get  to 
Yedo  on  foot.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
Dutch  influence  on  trade. 

At  first  these  Hollanders,  as  was  natural, 
brought  such  things  as  butter,  cheese,  and  the 


DUTCH  YEAST  IN  THE  JAPANESE  CAKE  195 


products  of  their  domestic  agriculture.  Now  the 
Japanese  nose,  to  this  day,  cannot  stand  cheese, 
and  even  yet  butter  is  not  much  in  demand. 
Soon,  however,  the  Hollanders  learned  what  the 
Japanese  wanted,  and  pleased  their  customers  by 
importing  instruments,  medicines,  and  manufac- 
tured articles  of  all  sorts.  They  also  brought  silk- 
worms from  China.  The  first  definite  treaty  of 
commerce  was  made  in  1608,  and  in  1609  the 
great  lyeyasu  gave  audience  to  the  Dutch  captain 
Krombeck,  and  freely  granted  to  each  Dutchman 
a passport,  on  which  were  six  Chinese  characters, 
meaning  “ Minamoto  lyeyasu  permits  the  exten- 
sion of  clemency  to  the  bearer.”  When  the 
Japanese  envoys  were  sent  by  lyeyasu  to  Holland 
to  conBrm  the  treaty,  Maurice,  the  stadtholder, 
and  son  of  William  the  Silent,  was  in  camp  with 
his  army.  He  received  and  welcomed  the  Japan- 
ese and  made  them  presents.  Then  the  Japanese 
understood  why  the  Spaniards  were  to  be  feared, 
and  that  the  quarrel  of  the  Dutch  with  them  was 
not  merely  on  account  of  religion,  but  was  for  life 
and  country. 

The  Japanese  were  very  much  influenced  by 
what  they  saw,  both  in  the  camps  and  in  the  rich 
cities  of  Holland.  While  their  friendship  with 
the  Dutch  grew  stronger,  they  were  strengthened 
in  their  determination  to  keep  the  Spaniards  and 
Portuguese  out  of  their  country.  For  several 
years  they  permitted  nine  or  ten  Dutch  ships  to 


196 


JAPAN 


come  yearly  to  Nagasaki.  The  Dutch  carried 
out  of  the  country,  in  most  lucrative  trade,  an 
immense  quantity  of  gold  and  silver,  with  which 
they  were  assisted  to  keep  up  their  eighty  years’ 
war  for  liberty,  which  gave  us,  the  Americans,  as 
Franklin  said,  “ our  great  example.”  Many  a 
Dutch  skipper  got  rich  in  the  Japan  trade.  In 
other  towns  besides  Delfshaven,  — whence  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  embarked  for  America  just 
about  the  time  that  Will  Adams  died,  and  the 
Japanese  were  driving  out  the  Jesuits,  — one 
reads  the  name  Deshima  Street,  in  memory  of  old 
days  in  the  far  East. 

When,  in  1647,  two  Portuguese  men-of-war 
came  to  Nagasaki  hoping  to  open  trade,  the  Jap- 
anese raised  an  army  of  over  fifty  thousand  men 
to  guard  the  city  and  coasts,  and  gathered  in  the 
harbor  a fleet  of  nearly  six  hundred  vessels  in 
readiness  for  war,  but  the  Portuguese  ships  went 
away  quietly. 

Will  Adams,  not  being  allowed  to  go  home, 
married  a Japanese  wife.  He  taught  navigation 
and  boat-building,  and  was  very  popular  in  Yedo. 
The  people  named  a street  after  him,  which  is 
still  called  An  jin  cho  or  Pilot  Street.  Down  on 
the  Bay  of  Yedo,  very  near  what  are  now  the 
imperial  dockyards,  the  Shogun  gave  him  a piece 
of  land  and  the  revenues  of  a village.  Here,  May 
8,  1620,  he  died,  leaving  one  child,  who  did  not 
long  survive  him.  His  tomb,  with  its  curious 


DUTCH  YEAST  IN  THE  JAPANESE  CAKE  197 

monument  to  himself  and  wife,  was  discovered  a 
few  years  ago  by  an  American  gentleman  who 
had  read  Mr.  Hildreth’s  book  on  “Japan  as  It 
Was  and  Is.”  It  is  at  Hemi,  near  the  railway 
station,  on  the  road  from  Yokohama  to  Yokoska. 

In  1644  a Dutch  ship  was  wrecked  on  the 
coast,  and  of  the  survivors  three  were  made  gun- 
nery instructors,  and  two  of  them  practiced  sur- 
gery in  Yedo.  Lighthouses,  in  European  style, 
at  Uraga  and  Misaki,  at  the  entrance  of  Yedo 
Bay,  were  built.  At  Nagasaki  a “flint  firearm 
fort  ” was  built.  When  the  Dutch  merchants 
visited  Yedo  every  year,  many  scholars,  inquisitive 
for  learning,  came  to  them  to  get  ideas;  and  in 
some  cases  books,  clocks,  barometers,  thermo- 
meters, surveying  and  astronomical  instruments 
were  eagerly  sought.  These  were  the  times  of 
peace,  when  leisure  was  abundant,  and  some  of 
the  Samurai  began  secretly  the  study  of  the 
Dutch  language.  Pretty  soon  there  were  little 
clubs  formed  for  study,  and  the  government  al- 
lowed chosen  men  to  learn  astronomy,  mathe- 
matics, medicine,  and  gunnery  from  the  Dutchmen. 
The  first  maps  of  the 'world  had  been  brought  to 
Yedo  in  1672.  Ten  years  later,  some  foreign 
horses  were  imported,  and  Dutchmen  were  em- 
ployed to  teach  riding  and  veterinary  science. 
As  the  years  passed  on,  many  Japanese  doctors 
and  young  men,  eager  to  know  the  secrets  of 
science,  openly  or  furtively  made  journeys  to 
Nagasaki  to  ask  questions,  or  get  books  or  ideas. 


198 


JAPAN 


The  fifth  Tycoon,  Tsunayoshi,  who  ruled  in 
Yedo  from  1681  to  1708,  — a period  of  great 
luxury,  — and  was  himself  a great  lover  of  novel- 
ties, patronized  the  Dutch  very  liberally.  He  had 
them  import  many  articles  especially  for  his  per- 
sonal use.  Among  his  good  acts  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  famous  University  of  Yedo,  in 
which  the  Chinese  language  and  literature  were 
taught,  and  out  of  which  came  the  great  professor, 
Hayashi,  who  made  the  treaty  with  Commodore 
Perry. 

One  of  the  Tycoon’s  counselors,  named  Arai, 
was  so  scandalized  at  the  luxurious  habits  of  the 
time,  and  the  money  paid  to  the  Dutch  for  luxu- 
ries, that  he  wrote  a book  against  the  prevailing 
fashion.  In  the  concluding  passage  he  computed 
the  annual  export  of  gold  at  a sum  worth  at  the 
present  day  over  four  million  dollars.  He  further 
declared  that  the  Japanese  could  dispense  with  all 
the  foreign  goods  except  medicines. 

These  medicines,  by  the  way,  became  very 
common  all  over  the  country.  On  most  of  the 
apothecary-shop  signs  I used  to  read  the  names 
of  various  Dutch  nostrums,  and  even  in  the 
Japanese  pronunciation,  such  as  “rauda”  for  “lau- 
danum,” could  recognize  a number  of  ordinary  Eu- 
ropean drugs.  Botany  was  also  much  cultivated 
during  Tsunayoshi’s  rule,  and  the  number  of 
students  of  foreign  science  kept  on  increasing. 

Yoshimune,  who  ruled  in  Yedo  from  1717  to 


DUTCH  YEAST  IN  THE  JAPANESE  CAKE  199 


1744,  was  also  a great  patron  of  the  Dutchmen, 
and  in  1725  a number  of  European  horses  were 
imported  for  his  use. 

One  of  the  staples  used  in  payment  for  Euro- 
pean goods  was  copper.  From  1609  to  1858,  it 
is  estimated  the  Dutch  carried  out  of  Japan  two 
hundred  and  six  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  tons  of  copper,  silver  to  the  value  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  millions,  and  gold  to  the  value 
of  seventy-eight  millions  of  dollars..  The  yearly 
profit  of  the  Dutch  was  for  many  years  over  three 
millions  of  dollars.  Their  annual  visit  to  Yedo, 
the  procession  of  merchants,  officers,  and  porters 
numbering  over  two  hundred  persons,  cost  them, 
with  the  presents  given  to  the  Japanese,  over  ten 
thousand  dollars. 

It  was  not  long  after  Yoshimune’s  death  that 
some  of  the  Samurai  in  Yedo  began  the  study  of 
the  Dutch  language.  Their  difficulties  at  first 
were  great,  for  their  facilities  were  few  indeed. 
They  persevered,  however,  and  pretty  soon  clubs 
were  formed  for  the  mastery  and  enjoyment  of 
Dutch  books.  The  translation  of  scientific  works 
began  to  be  made  and  published,  and  in  that  way 
European  ideas  filtered  down  among  the  people. 
The  Dutch  were  quick  to  find  that  their  most 
profitable  importations  were  invoices  of  books  on 
every  branch  of  science.  In  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury Holland  led  the  world  in  learning,  and  the 
making  of  books.  In  the  eighteenth  they  were 


200 


JAPAN 


not  far  behind.  The  Dutch  were  glad  and  proud 
to  find  so  promising  a market  for  their  scientific 
literature  at  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

Among  the  scientific  men  of  Europe  who  took 
employment  under  the  Dutch  in  order  to  see 
Japan,  was  Engelbert  Kempfer,  who  wrote  a 
superb  book  on  Japan.  Several  of  the  Dutch 
superintendents  also  were  authors.  In  1825  Dr. 
Franz  Van  Siebold*  reached  Yedo,  and  lived  in 
the  great  city  for  over  three  years.  He  stimulated 
or  trained  up  scores  of  bright  young  men  to  be 
observers  of  nature,  and  to  use  their  minds  accord- 
ing to  the  modern  scientific  method. 

Yet  all  this  time  the  government  at  Yedo  re- 
fused to  allow  the  Dutchmen  to  have  maps  or 
books  relating  to  Japan,  and  what  Kempfer  and 
Siebold  and  others  obtained  was  by  secret  means. 
In  November,  1828,  two  Japanese  were  impri- 
soned for  selling  Dr.  Van  Siebold  a map.  Other 
natives  who  were  found  making  maps  on  the 
foreign  method  were  punished. 

Evidently  there  were  two  parties  at  court,  and 
alternately  the  liberal  and  the  oppressive  policy 
prevailed;  yet  despite  the  fact  that  many  Japanese 
authors,  artists,  and  scientific  men  were  persecuted, 
imprisoned,  punished,  or  suffered  death,  the  leaven 
spread.  In  hundreds  of  cities  and  towns  all  over 
Japan  there  were  students  of  Dutch  books,  phy- 
sicians who  practiced  medicine  according  to  the 
Western  method,  and  thousands  of  men  who  had 


DUTCH  YEAST  IN  THE  JAPANESE  CAKE  201 

visited  the  Dutchmen  at  Deshima,  or  had  gained 
a smattering  of  European  knowledge.  In  this 
way  the  prejudice  against  foreigners  was  softened, 
and  interpreters  were  trained  ready  for  a political 
change  that  would  give  them  mental  freedom. 
Among  these  eager  seekers  after  light  were  some 
who  obtained  a knowledge  of  Christianity.  Most 
of  the  present  prominent  leaders  of  the  Christian 
churches,  the  eloquent  preachers,  scholars,  and 
writers  in  Japan,  are  sons,  grandsons,  or  other 
relatives  of  these  early  students  of  Dutch. 

When  Napoleon  crushed  the  Dutch  Republic, 
the  red,  white,  and  blue  flag  of  the  Netherlands 
was  driven  from  the  seas.  Until  the  Dutch  again 
took  Holland  in  1815,  there  was  not  much  trade 
with  Japan.  From  1799  to  1809  both  of  the 
ships  arriving  at  Nagasaki  were  owned  by  Amer- 
icans, and  floated  under  the  seventeen-starred  flag 
of  the  United  States. 

Owing  partly  to  this  interruption,  but  more  on 
account  of  the  increasing  Severity  of  the  Japanese 
regulations  and  reform  of  luxurious  habits  in 
Yedo,  trade  dwindled  until  it  no  longer  paid  ex- 
penses. Nevertheless,  the  Dutch,  out  of  sentiment 
and  for  the  honor  of  the  flag,  kept  up  intercourse. 
In  July,  1844,  King  William  II.  sent  a man-of- 
war  with  an  envoy  and  letter  advising  the  Shogun, 
whose  name  was  Minamoto  lyeyoshi,  to  open 
Japan  to  foreign  intercourse.  This  letter  paved 
the  way  for  Commodore  Perry.  During  the  time 


202 


JAPAN 


of  the  Mexican  war,  and  of  the  British  movements 
in  India  and  China,  the  Dutch  kept  the  Japanese 
well  informed,  advising  them  of  the  danger  of 
keeping  their  country  closed,  or  of  insulting  a 
nation  so  powerful  as  the  United  States.  The 
Yedo  government  took  the  good  advice  given, 
and,  through  the  Americans,  Matthew  Perry 
and  Townsend  Harris,  Japan  was  opened  to  the 
world. 

When  those  in  authority  finally  awoke  to  face 
the  problems  of  modern  life,  they  sent  promising 
native  students  to  Holland,  bought  Dutch  ships, 
machinery,  and  munitions  of  war,  and  engaged 
Dutch  instructors  in  various  departments  of  sci- 
ence and  art.  When,  indeed,  Thornrose  had  rubbed 
her  eyes  and  opened  her  castle  to  all  well-behaved 
visitors,  she  made  choice  of  English  as  her  favo- 
rite language,  but  the  Dutch  was  her  first  love. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


INTERIOR  FORCES  MAKING  NEW  JAPAN. 

When  the  Japan  of  our  day  astonished  the 
world  by  abolishing  feudalism,  adopting  the  civi- 
lization of  Christendom,  creating  a constitutional 
government,  and  becoming  in  most  outward  fea- 
tures a modern  state,  there  were  many  who  said 
that  “the  Japanese  had  reached  in  twenty  years 
what  it  took  other  countries  centuries  to  acquire.” 

The  statement  is  no  more  true  than  to  say  that 
a nation  is  born  in  a day,  or  that  the  acorn 
planted  this  morning  will  be  an  oak  to-morrow 
evening. 

Such  talk  seems  very  foolish  to  the  student  of 
Japanese  history.  He  knows  that  for  two  hun- 
dred years  the  Dutch  seed  of  European  civiliza- 
tion was  growing  secretly.  He  sees,  also,  other 
great  forces,  both  inwardly  and  outwardly,  under- 
mining the  system  of  lyeyasu  and  preparing  for 
the  New  Japan. 

Among  the  interior  agencies  at  work  was  the 
revival  of  literature.  When  the  long  wars  had 
ceased,  libraries  were  gathered,  old  records  were 
searched,  and  scholars  had  time  to  study  and 
think.  One  school  of  learned  men  began  to 


204 


JAPAN 


make  research  into  ancient  and  mediaeval  history  ; 
another  studied  the  Shinto  religion,  and  a third 
the  Chinese  system  of  ethics.  Even  art  and  the 
drama  lent  their  aid  to  stimulating  thoughts  that 
were  not  favorable  to  the  despotism  of  the  Yedo 
government. 

The  revival  of  pure  Shinto,  which  began  under 
Mabuchi  and  was  carried  on  by  Motobri  and 
Hirata,  was  wrought  between  the  years  1697  and 
1843.  These  scholars  interpreted  the  ancient 
poems  and  scriptures.  They  cultivated  a taste 
for  the  native  literature,  and  a love  for  “Japan 
as  it  was  before  the  Shogun  and  feudalism 
existed.  They  published  books,  lectured  much, 
and  had  many  pupils.  The  results  of  their  teach- 
ings were  reverence  for  the  Mikado  and  a desire 
to  see  him  sole  ruler,  and  a dislike  for  Buddhism 
and  the  Shogun  who  patronized  this  religion. 
Above  all,  these  scholars  fed  the  burning  zeal  of 
their  pupils  for  the  restoration  of  Shinto  as  the 
established  state  church,  with  the  Mikado  as  its 
head.  Shinto  meant  nationalism.  In  provinces 
like  Mito,  Satsuma,  Choshiu,  Tosa,  and  Echizen,  a 
party  began  to  form  that  desired  the  abolition  of 
the  dual  system  of  government  by  throne  and 
camp,  and  a return  to  that  of  the  early  ages. 

The  study  of  ancient  Japanese  history  was  dan- 
gerous to  the  Shogun’s  authority,  and  a direct 
aid  to  the  restoration  of  the  Mikado.  The  daimio 
of  Mito  gathered  a library  of  over  one  hundred 


INTERIOR  FORCES  MAKING  NEW  JAPAN  205 

thousand  volumes,  and  his  own  college  of  learned 
men.  He  also  invited  to  assist,  and  correct  the 
historical  books  which  were  written  in  the  Chinese 
characters,  the  scholars  who  had  fled  from  Peking 
when  the  Ming  dynasty  fell  before  the  Manchiu 
Tartars  in  1627.  One  of  these  men  laid  out,  in 
imitation  of  a classic  Chinese  scene,  the  renowned 
Mito  gardens  in  Yedo,  still  the  most  famous  in 
Japan.  The  tombs  of  other  Chinese  refugee 
scholars,  who  died  after  high  honor  had  been  be- 
stowed on  them,  are  near  the  city  of  Mito,  about 
twenty-five  miles  northwest  of  Tokio.  Under  the 
second  daimio  of  Mito  (1628-1700),  the  new  his- 
tory of  Japan,  written  in  purest  Chinese,  and 
comprised  in  two  hundred  and  forty-three  volumes, 
was  completed.  Japanese  volumes,  being  much 
smaller  than  ours,  are  easily  carried.  The  work 
immediately  became  a standard,  and  was  widely 
copied  and  read  all  over  the  country.  Its  effect 
on  the  minds  of  the  Samurai  was  tremendous.  It 
pointed  out  the  fact  that  historically  the  Shogun 
was  a usurper.  Logically,  and  according  to  an- 
cient Japanese  law  and  religion,  no  one  but  the 
Mikado  ought  to  rule. 

The  work  of  the  men  of  Mito  was  followed  up 
by  the  scholar  Rai  Sanyo.  After  digesting  the 
contents  of  over  six  hundred  books,  and  spending- 
twenty  years  in  literary  labor,  he  published  the 
“Nihon  Guaishi,”  or  “Japan’s  History  Outside 
the  Imperial  Palace,”  Recounting  the  story  of 


206 


JAPAN 


the  military  families  from  the  Taira  to  the  Ashi- 
kaga,  he  showed  that  every  Samurai’s  loyalty  was 
to  the  Mikado  only.  The  name  of  Rai,  as  a 
noble  exponent  of  literary  Japan,  is  carved  in  the 
granite  of  the  Boston  Public  Library. 

The  study  of  the  moral  systems  of  Confucius 
and  Mencius  also  tended  to  make  clear  the  fact 
that  the  true  master  of  Japan  was  in  Kioto,  and 
that  his  imitator  in  Yedo  was  only  a servant. 
Supporters  of  the  feudal  system,  with  the  Shogun 
at  its  head,  made  especial  use  of  the  Confucian 
ethics,  with  its  central  doctrine  of  obedience,  to 
secure  their  own  authority.  Yet,  in  the  end,  this 
doctrine  hurt  the  Yedo  rulers.  “ For,”  thought 
the  Samurai,  “ if  the  Shogun  is  a vassal  of  the 
Mikado,  why  does  he  not  obey  him?”  Then  they 
reasoned  and  said,  ‘‘Nay,  he  must  obey  him. 
Yedo  must  be  obedient  to  Kioto.”  Finally  they 
cried,  “ Let  us,  above  all,  reverence  the  Mikado, 
and  compel  even  the  Shogun  to  obey  him.” 

This  was  the  way  men  talked  long  before  Amer- 
ican men-of-war  anchored  in  Yedo  Bay.  The  cen- 
sorship, oppression,  and  cruelties,  but  especially 
the  blunders  of  the  government,  only  increased 
the  feeling.  When  authors  were  imprisoned  for 
publishing  books,  when  artists  and  actors  were 
punished  for  pictures  and  plays  which  fed  the 
rising  sentiment,  when  scholars  were  nourishing 
their  minds  on  European  ideas  through  the  study 
of  Dutch,  the  dual  system  and  the  Tokugawa  rule 


INTERIOR  FORCES  MAKING  NEW  JAPAN  207 

were  doomed.  Before  Perry’s  time,  earnest  pa- 
triots also  agitated  for  a representative  council  or 
assembly,  in  which  national  affairs  could  be  dis- 
cussed. Such  men  were  the  reformers  before  the 
Reformation,  the  morning  stars  heralding  the  sun- 
‘ burst  of  1868. 

The  authors,  artists,  scholars,  and  reformers 
imprisoned,  persecuted,  banished,  or  compelled  to 
commit  sep'puku  for  their  liberal  opinions,  or 
safely  escaping  to  Europe  or  America,  were  not 
all  of  one  mind.  They  ranged  from  Shintoists 
to  Christians,  and  from  the  most  fanatical  and 
narrow-minded  patriots  who  hated  foreigners  to 
the  liberals  who  wanted  Japan  fully  opened  to 
diplomacy,  commerce,  and  civilization. 

Besides  this  great  ferment  of  individual  opinion, 
there  were  deep  political  hatreds  among  the  great 
clans,  especially  those  whose  ancestors  had  been 
overcome  by  lyeyasii.  The  men  of  Satsuma,  Cho- 
shiu,  Tosa,  and  Hizen  in  the  southwest  were  espe- 
cially eager  to  rise  and  overthrow  the  power  of 
the  Tokugawa  family.  No  doubt  many  wanted 
a new  division  of  spoils,  but  all  burned  to  rein- 
state the  emperor  to  supreme  power. 

The  signs  of  the  times,  to  those  who  could  read 
them,  in  the  year  1838,  when  lyeyoshi,  the  twelfth 
Shogun  of  the  Tokugawa  dynasty,  was  inducted 
into  office,  were  ominous.  The  men  in  power, 
however,  could  not  see  danger,  and  so  in  Yedo  the 
luxury  and  the  carousal,  the  processions  and  the 


208 


JAPAN 


entertainments,  went  on.  The  song  of  the  sing- 
ing girl,  the  twang  of  the  three-stringed  banjo,  the 
lascivious  , dance,  the  circulating  wine-cup,  were 
enjoyed  as  before.  When  the  unarmed  American 
ship  Morrison,  in  1839,  approached  Uraga,  the  port 
of  entry  for  Yedo,  to  return  seven  shipwrecked’ 
Japanese  sailors,  cannon-balls  were  the  only  an- 
swer to  her  peaceful  signals.  A cowardly  govern- 
ment, afraid  of  the  light,  insisted  on  killing  good 
books  and  men  at  home,  and  in  warning  off  those 
who  might  bring  the  torch  from  afar. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


OUTWARD  AGENCIES. 

So  far  we  have  looked  within.  Let  us  now 
see  what  external  agencies  helped  to  make  New 
J apan. 

In  Japanese  sacred  legend,  folk-lore,  and  art, 
the  sea-monsters  have  much  to  do  with  the  intro- 
duction of  civilization.  The  saint  rides  over  the 
waves  on  a dolphin,  and  the  scholar  brings  pens, 
books,  and  manuscripts  on  the  back  of  a' finny- 
creature.  Some  truth  underlies  these  fantastic 
stories.  In  our  times  we  may  say  that  modern 
civilization  came  to  Japan  on  a whale. 

When  the  Yankee  whalers  of  New  Bedford,  in 
Massachusetts,  began,  about  the  year  1750,  to 
find  their  game  leaving  them,  they  sailed  into 
new  waters  in  quest  of  blubber  and  bone.  They 
moved  their  ships  down  into  South  American 
waters.  Then  they  rounded  Cape  Horn,  and 
pushed  up  into  the  northern  Pacific  Ocean.  Our 
treaties  with  Russia  made  all  sub-Arctic  waters 
free.  Soon  the  “ black  ships  ” began  to  loom  up 
in  fleets  along  the  coast  of  Japan. 

Some  of  the  foreseeing  Samurai  thought  it 
ominous.  Then  they  were  scared.  They  respect- 


210 


JAPAN 


fully  remonstrated  at  the  indifference  of  the  gov- 
ernment, saying  the  coasts  ought  to  be  fortified. 
Soon  American  sailors  were  shipwrecked  on  the 
coast,  and  had  to  be  returned  through  the  Dutch. 
Ronald  McDonald,  a boy  born  in  Oregon,  vol- 
untarily left  adrift,  got  into  Yezo,  and  thence 
to  Nagasaki.  He  taught  English,  and  gave  the 
Japanese  some  new  ideas.  When  asked  to  de- 
scribe the  government  of  the  United  States  he 
was  told  to  begin  at  the  beginning.  He  did  so, 
by  explaining  that  in  America  the  people  are 
king  and  the  source  of  authority.  This  puzzled 
the  Japanese  officers.  It  was  a long  while  before 
the  American  sailor  boy’s  statement,  that  the 
people  made  the  government,  percolated  through 
their  brains. 

When  it  was  found  that  the  North  Pacific 
was  so  fruitful,  the  whaling  industry  increased 
mightily.  Commodore  Perry  found  that  seven- 
teen millions  of  dollars  were  invested  in  it.  In 
one  year,  eighty-five  of  the  “ black  ships,”  as  the 
Japanese  called  our  painted,  smoky,  and  sooty 
whalers,  were  counted  passing  one  port.  Steam 
made  the  ocean  a ferry,  and  increased  the  com- 
merce to  China,  making  also  coal-supplies  and 
open  ports  necessary.  American  ships  of  peace 
and  men-of-war  came  frequently  to  Japan  to  take 
away  shipwrecked  sailors,  or  to  return  «Tapanese 
waifs  picked  up  at  sea.  In  1846,  the  American 
sloop-of-war  Vincennes,  and  line  - of  - battle  ship 


OUTWARD  AGENCIES 


211 


Columbus,  came  into  the  Bay  of  Yedo  to  ask  that 
trade  be  opened.  The  answer  from  Yedo  to  this 
knock  of  a gloved  hand  was  a positive  refusal. 
In  1849  Commander  Glynn,  in  the  United  States 
brig  Preble,  came  to  Nagasaki,  and  demanded  in 
no  mild  terms  the  instant  release  of  eight  Amer- 
ican sailors.  Obtaining  them,  he  learned  that 
when  detained  in  prison  at  Yezo  these  sailors  had 
heard  from  their  keepers  about  nearly  every 
battle  in  the  Mexican  war.  When  California 
became  American,  and  gold  was  discovered,  the 
next  question  for  the  Japanese  to  face  was  this: 
A new  neighbor  had  come  to  live  just  across  the 
steam  ferry.  Would  he  not  soon  be  knocking  at 
their  doors  with  an  iron  hand  ? 

Thoughtful  Japanese  at  once  saw  that  their  day 
of  isolation  was  over.  To  say  so  publicly,  however, 
meant  imprisonment  or  hara-kiri.  Nevertheless, 
men  went  on  studying  the  Dutch  books,  believing 
that  the  people  of  America  and  Europe  could  not 
be  such  “ beasts,”  “ savages,”  or  “ barbarians  ” as 
it  was  the  fashion  to  call  them.  About  1850, 
“ The  Song  of  the  Black  Ships,”  a curious  ditty 
about  the  foreign  sailors  and  vessels,  resounded 
all  over  the  country.  Two  stanzas,  put  in  English' 
by  Professor  Inazo  Nitobe,  are  as  follows : — 

‘ ‘ Tliro’  a black  night  of  cloud  and  rain, 

The  Black  Ship  plies  her  way  — 

An  alien  thing  of  evil  mien  — 

Across  the  waters  gray. 


212 


JAPAN 


“ With  cheeks  half  hid  in  shaggy  beards, 

Their  glance  fixed  on  the  wave, 

They  seek  our  sun-land  at  the  word 
Of  captain  owlish-grave.” 

On  November  3,  1 852,  when  Perry  was  about  to 
sail  from  Norfolk,  Virginia,  in  the  steam  frigate 
Mississippi,  Mutsuhito,  son  of  the  Mikado  Komei 
and  the  present  ruler  of  constitutional  Japan,  was 
born  in  Kioto. 

The  whale  had  led  the  way,  the  American 
whalers  followed.  The  war  ships,  now  numbering 
a squadron,  loomed  up.  Approaching  by  way  of 
Kiu  Kiu,  they  finally  entered  Yedo  Bay.  At  five 
p.  M.,  on  the  7th  of  July,  1853,  four  of  the  finest 
vessels  of  the  United  States  navy,  two  of  them 
steamers,  cast  anchor  off  Uraga.  Commodore 
Perry the  younger  brother  of  the  hero  of  Lake 
Erie,  commanded  the  expedition.  Oliver’s  dis- 
patch in  1813  read,  “ We  have  met  the  enemy 
and  they  are  ours : ” Matthew’s,  forty  years  later, 
might  have  been,  “ We  have  met  friends,  and 
we  are  theirs.” 

In  the  treaty  document,  signed  by  Professor 
Hayashi,  the  Shogun  was  styled  “ Tycoon,”  or 
Great  Prince.  Two  towns,  Shimoda  in  Idzu  and 
Hakodate  in  Yezo,  were  made  open  ports  for  the 
supply  of  coal,  provisions,  and  water  to  ships. 
Sailors  were  to  be  treated  kindly,  an  American 

1 See  the  Life  of  Commodore  Matthew  Galbraith  Perry  for  a 
full  account  of  the  American  expedition  to  Japan. 


OUTWARD  AGENCIES 


213 


consul  might  come  to  reside  in  Japan,  but  no 
trade  or  residence  of  citizens  of  the  United  States 
was  allowed.  The  Japanese  were  now  like  their 
Sun  Goddess,  who  opened  her  cave  door  on  a crack. 
Perry  made  them  j^resents  of  a model  telegraph, 
a little  steam  locomotive  and  railway  track,  and 
a great  many  Yankee  notions,  tools,  inventions, 
instruments,  and  books.  On  the  strand  at  Yoko- 
hama, he  gave  them  a grand  object-lesson  in 
W estern  civilization. 

Now  that  the  door  was  ajar,  who  should  pull  it 
wide  open?  The  Japanese  were  surprised  to  find 
the  Yankees  so  prompt.  On  the  afternoon  of 
September  3,  1856,  a flagstaff  was  planted  and 
the  American  flag  was  raised  at  Shimoda,  in 
front  of  the  consulate  of  the  United  States. 
Townsend  Harris,  of  New  York,  was  the  consul, 
and  Mr.  Heusken  was  his  Dutch  secretary.  He 
bore  a letter  from  President  Pierce,  which  he 
was  charged  to  deliver  to  “ the  emperor  ” in 
person,  as  the  Americans  thought  the  Tycoon 
to  be.  After  a year’s  waiting,  Mr.  Harris  entered 
Yedo  in  triumph.  In  the  great  castle  hall,  before 
all  the  daimios,  and  in  audience  of  the  Shogun, 
he  presented  the  President’s  letter.  This  asked 
for  the  opening  of  ports,  for  the  residence  of 
Americans,  and  for  unrestricted  commerce  with 
the  United  States. 

The  great  simplicity  of  Japanese  life,  even  in 
Yedo,  surprised  Mr.  Harris.  There  was  little  that 


214 


JAPAN 


reminded  him  of  European  courts.  He  saw  no 
jewels,  diamond-hilted  swords,  crowns  of  gold, 
splendid  carriages,  or  fine  horses.  Everything 
seemed  severely  plain,  and  even  mean,  though  all 
was  spotlessly  clean.  He  scrupulously  insisted  on 
all  his  rights  as  a representative  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  was  treated  with  great 
respect.  His  life  was  in  some  danger  from  ronins, 
who  were  “ foreigner-haters,”  but  he  was  never 
injured,  though  young  Heusken  finally  fell  under 
the  swords  of  ultra-patriotic  assassins. 

Like  a teacher  at  school,  who  gathers  a class 
around  him  to  teach  A,  B,  C,  Mr.  Harris  spent 
many  months  instructing  the  high  officials  of  the 
government  in  the  knowledge  of  international 
law  and  modern  customs.  Finally  a draft  of  the 
treaty  was  ready,  and  then  Mr.  Harris  learned 
that  the  Shogun  was  only  a sham  “emperor.” 
No  treaty  could  be  made  unless  the  Mikado  at 
Kioto  agreed  to  it.  The  coming  of  the  foreigners 
had  disturbed  the  balance  between  the  throne 
and  the  camp,  and  the  political  machinery  was 
at  once  put  out  of  order.  Though  the  Tycoon 
sent  first  Professor  Hayashi,  and  then  Hotta,  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  to  Kioto,  the  court 
would  not  yield  an  inch.  The  kuge^  who  had 
never  seen  a foreigner,  were  flatly  opposed  to 
opening  the  country  to  the  “ ugly  barbarians.” 
Mr.  Harris  was  so  surprised  and  annoyed  at  the 
long  delay,  after  the  Yedo  officers  had  made  and 


OVTWAED  AGENCIES  215 

agjeed  to  the  treaty,  that  he  threatened  to  go  to 
Kioto  himself. 

The  long-pent-up  forces  now  began  to  break  out, 
and  a national  upheaval  was  threatened.  Seeing 
the  gravity  of  affairs,  the  Yedo  government  sought 
out  its  ablest  man,  named  li.  Thoroughly  under- 
standing the  serious  situation,  and  fearing  that 
Japan  might  be  conquered  like  India,  he  set  his 
seal  to  the  new  treaty,  July  29,  1858. 

It  is  true  that  British  and  French  armies  were 
then  in  China,  but  Mr.  Harris  had  already  won 
the  diplomatic  victory  without  a ship  or  a soldier, 
having  nothing  but  the  American  name  to  back 
him.  Shortly  after,  treaties  were  made  with 
other  nations,  and  in  1859  the  foreign  settlement 
of  Yokohama  began. 

The  high-handed  act  of  the  Shogun  in  assuming 
the  title  of  “ Tycoon,”  and  the  opening  of  the 
country  without  the  Mikado’s  consent,  were  taken 
as  insults  to  the  Mikado  and  the  heavenly  gods. 
Thousands  of  Samurai  now  left  the  service  of 
their  masters  the  daimios,  and,  floating  about,  be- 
came “wave-men,”  or  ronins.  On  the  27th  of 
March,  1861,  a party  of  them  made  an  attack  on 
the  train  of  the  premier  li  in  Yedo  and  killed  him. 
They  now  began  the  systematic  assassination  of 
foreigners  and  the  burning  of  their  legations,  their 
object  being  to  get  the  Tycoon  into  a war  with  the 
treaty  nations.  Several  bloody  attacks  were  made 
and  many  Englishmen  killed,  besides  Mr.  Hens- 


216 


JAPAN 


ken,  the  secretary  of  Mr.  Harris.  The  ronins 
succeeded  so  well  that  all  the  foreign  ministers 
left  Yedo  except  Mr.  Harris,  who  kept  the  Amer- 
ican flag  flying.  Although  they  called  themselves 
Samurai,  the  ronins  thought  it  was  doing  the  gods 
service  to  draw  their  swords  and  cut  down  the 
“hairy  barbarians.”  Their  ardor  for  this  cow- 
ardly business  was  somewhat  damped  when  one 
of  them,  at  the  demand  of  the  foreign  ministers, 
was  publicly  beheaded  on  the  common  execution 
ground  for  criminals,  instead  of  his  being  allowed 
to  commit  hara-kiri. 

To  the  Americans  in  Japan  these  were  dark 
days.  At  home  the  civil  war  was  raging,  and  the 
Union  armies  at  first  suffered  many  defeats.  The 
Alabama  was  sweeping  the  seas  of  American  com- 
merce, so  that  even  letters  had  to  be  sent  home  to 
the  United  States  on  British  ships. 

The  Yedo  government,  having  its  hands  full 
with  the  foreigners,  could  not  control  the  daimios 
and  their  retainers.  The  custom  of  requiring  them 
to  spend  half  their  time  in  Yedo  was  abolished, 
and  henceforth  the  gathering  of  the  clans  was  at 
Kioto,  which  soon  became  full  of  all  sorts  of  char- 
acters. Satsuma  and  Choshiu  were  among  the 
first  to  take  their  orders  from  the  Mikado,  and  to 
defy  the  Tycoon.  An  army  sent  from  Yedo  to 
chastise  the  Choshiu  men  was  beaten  ; for  the 
clansmen  were  hardy,  earnest,  lightly  clothed,  well- 
drilled,  and  armed  with  American  rifles,  while  the 


OUTWARD  AGENCIES 


217 


Tycoon’s  soldiers  were  unskillful,  laced  up  tightly 
in  clumsy  old  armor,  for  which  they  had  grown 
too  fat,  besides  being  enervated  by  the  long  peace. 
The  Samurai,  hostile  to  the  Tycoon,  now  began 
to  unite  their  fortunes  with  the  Choshiu  men,  who 
began  to  huy  and  own  ships  and  to  build  forts 
commanding  the  narrow  Straits  of  Shimonoseki. 
When  the  batteries  were  completed  they  hoisted 
a flag  inscribed  with  the  words,  “ In  obedience  to 
the  imperial  order,”  and  to  fire  upon  every  pass- 
ing foreign  ship.  The  first  was  an  American 
merchant  ship  named  the  Pembroke,  the  next  a 
French  dispatch  vessel,  and  the  third  the  Dutch 
frigate  Medusa. 

When  Captain  David  MacDougal,  of  the  United 
States  sloop-of-war  Wyoming,  heard  of  this,  he 
left  off  hunting  for  the  Alabama  and  steamed  into 
the  Straits,  July  16,  1863.  In  a brilliant  action 
of  ninety  minutes,  firing  fifty-five  shots,  he  de- 
stroyed one  of  the  six  batteries,  sunk  one  brig, 
and  with  an  eleven-inch  Dahlgren  shell  blew  up  a 
steamer ; returning  with  a loss  of  six  men  killed 
and  seven  wounded.  A few  days  later,  the  French 
landed  and  destroyed  a battery,  but  the  Choshiu 
men  still  held  the  forts. 

About  this  time  an  attempt  was  made  by  a 
large  body  of  men  from  the  same  clan  to  capture 
the  imperial  palace  in  Kioto,  and  carry  off  the 
Mikado,  so  as  to  clothe  the  acts  of  Choshiu  with 
his  sacred  authority.  The  plot  failed ; a battle 


218 


JAPAN 


ensued,  in  which  many  men  were  killed,  and  thirty 
thousand  houses  in  Kioto  burned.  It  was  a 
strange  sight  to  see  men  dressed  in  armor  loading 
and  firing  cannon.  The  soldiers  of  Echizen  and 
Satsuma  were  honored  for  defending  the  palace, 
and  the  Choshiu  clansmen  were  forbidden  ever 
again  to  enter  Kioto. 

Near  Yedo,  while  the  procession  of  the  daimio 
of  Satsuma  was  passing  along  the  Tokaido,  a 
party  of  English  travelers  were  riding  along,  and 
not  thinking  of  dismounting,  as  the  natives  always 
did,  braved  danger  and  rode  on  in  the  face  of 
the  train.  Taking  this  as  an  insult,  the  Samurai 
cut  down  the  three  tourists,  wounding  two  and 
killing  a third,  Mr.  Richardson.  For  this  act  a 
British  fleet  bombarded  Kagoshima,  the  chief  city 
in  Satsuma.  They  also  demanded  and  were  paid 
an  indemnity  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
from  the  Tycoon,  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
from  the  Satsuma  clan. 

In  September,  1864,  the  combined  squadrons  — 
seventeen  war-ships  — of  four  nations  — British, 
French,  Dutch,  American  — destroyed  the  forts  at 
Shimonoseki,  “cleaned  out  the  den,”  and  com- 
pelled the  Yedo  government  to  elect  between 
paying  an  indemnity  of  three  millions  of  dollars 
and  the  opening  of  new  ports.  The  first  alternative 
was  chosen,  and  the  treasury  in  Yedo  was  nearly 
exhausted,  even  by  the  partial  payment. 

The  southern  clans,  thus  severely  chastised  by 


OUTWARD  AGENCIES 


219 


the  foreigners,  learned  wisdom.  They  resolved  to 
unite  to  beat  the  Shogun  and  restore  the  Mikado 
to  his  ancient  authority.  Their  plan  was  the  one 
common  in  all  J apanese  history,  to  get  hold  of  the 
Son  of  Heaven,  and  to  proclaim  a new  government 
in  his  name.  Matters  hastened  to  a crisis.  Early 
in  1867  the  old  emperor  died,  and  the  young  and 
now  reigning  Mikado  took  office.  By  the  force 
of  public  opinion,  which  demanded  a return  to 
the  ancient  system  in  force  before  the  days  of 
Yoritomo,  the  Shogun  resigned  November  9, 1867. 
A council  of  the  daimios  was  appointed  to  meet 
December  15th  to  arrange  for  the  formation  of  a 
new  constitution,  but  it  failed  to  meet.  Mean- 
while Kioto  was  filling  up  with  armed  men,  espe- 
cially from  Satsuma,  and  a coalition  of  clans  was 
formed  for  the  service  of  the  palace.  On  the  first 
of  January,  1868,  Hiogo  and  Osaka  were  opened, 
to  foreign  trade  amid  naval  and  military  display, 
the  firing  of  salutes,  and  the  raising  of  flags. 

In  Kioto-,  on  the  3d  of  January,  1868,  the 
“ Mikado  reverencers  ” having  obtained  an  order 
from  the  court,  the  troops  of  the  coalition  seized 
the  palace  gates,  and  a new  government  was  estab- 
lished on  the  ancient  foundation.  The  Tycoon 
was  greatly  surprised  and  enraged  to  find  the  pal- 
^ ace  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  and  secretly  left 
Kioto  on  the  night  of  January  6th,  going  to 
Osaka,  where  he  received  the  visits  of  the  foreign 
ministers,  who  were  puzzled  to  know  with  what 


220 


JAPAN 


government  they  were  to  treat.  Yielding  to  the 
advice  of  his  followers,  he  advanced  at  the  head 
of  several  clans  still  loyal  to  him  against  the  city 
of  Kioto,  to  deliver  the  young  Mikado  from  his 
advisers.  By  order  of  the  court,  he  was  forbid- 
den, and  declared  a cho-te-hi.  The  “ loyal  army  ” 
marched  out  to  fight  him. 

The  civil  war  opened  by  a battle  at  Fushimi, 
near  Kioto.  The  Tycoon  was  beaten,  and  fled  by 
sea  to  Yedo.  He  soon  after  retired  to  private 
life,  first  in  Mito  and  then  in  Shidzuoka,  where  he 
still  lives  quietly.  After  campaigns  in  the  north, 
and  various  battles,  the  imperial  armies  were 
everywhere  victorious  and  peace  again  reigned. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  government  was 
to  ratify  the  treaties  in  the  name  of  the  emperor. 
For  the  first  time,  the  name  of  a Mikado  was 
made  public  and  shown  in  a signature.  Then  the 
emperor  took  an  oath  to  establish  a national  as- 
sembly, to  decide  measures  by  public  opinion,  and 
to  abolish  uncivilized  customs.  This  oath  is  the 
foundation  of  the  constitution  of  New  Japan.  The 
capital  was  removed  to  Yedo,  which  was  named 
Tokio.  From  this  time,  this  great  city  became  the 
political  and  intellectual  centre  of  the  national 
life. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


NEW  JAPAN. 

Several  years  before  the  fall  of  the  Yedo  gov- 
ernment, parties  of  young  men  got  away  secretly 
from  Japan  to  study  in  the  United  States  and 
Europe.  In  the  autumn  of  1866,  the  writer  of 
this  little  book,  when  a student  at  Rutgers  Col- 
lege, New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  met  the  first  Japa- 
nese lads  who  came  as  students  to  that  city.  Many 
others  followed  these  two,  until  there  were  scores 
of  them  at  work  mastering  the  language  and 
the  sciences.  By  November,  1869,  the  writer  had 
met  hundreds  of  the  men  of  New  Japan  who  had 
come  into  the  wonder-world  of  Western  civiliza- 
tion. With  a score  or  so  of  them  he  was  well 
acquainted.  From  these  he  learned  much  of  Jap- 
anese history  and  home  life,  especially  from  one 
Sugiura,  of  Satsuma;  and  Kusab4,  of  Fukui,  in 
Echizen. 

Dropping  the  third  person,  let  me  say  that  it 
was  to  this  latter  province  and  city  that  I was 
invited  by  the  daimio  Matsudaira,  Echizen  no 
Kami,  and  his  officers.  Shortly  after  graduation 
from  college  in  the  summer  of  1869,  I left  for 
Japan  to  organize  schools  on  the  American  prin- 


222 


JAPAN 


ciple  and  teach  science.  I arrived  at  Yokohama 
December  29,  1870,  and  in  Yedo,  now  called 
Tokio,  January  2,  1871. 

Here,  in  the  capital,  I remained  seven  weeks, 
meeting  several  of  the  great  daimios  and  many  of- 
ficers and  Samurai  who  had  been  active  in  the 
Kestoration.  The  city  was  then  full  of  soldiers 
and  rough  characters,  and  it  was  uncertain  as  yet 
what  kind  of  a country  New  Japan  was  going  to  be. 
Everything  seemed  to  me  as  strange  as  moon-land 
or  the  under-sea  world.  The  Samurai  all  wore 
swords  and  top-knots,  and  many  of  them  scowled  at 
the  American  ; the  processions  of  the  daimios  were 
gay  and  full  of  fuss  and  show  ; the  kuge  had  black 
teeth,  spotted  foreheads,  and  brick-shaped  hats ; 
the  Eta,  or  pariahs,  were  still  treated  as  beasts  in 
human  form ; and  everything  was  strange,  lovely, 
or  horrible.  It  was  Old  Japan  almost  unchanged. 

From  Tokio,  by  kago,  jinrikisha,  horse,  steamer, 
and  on  foot  at  times,  I made  the  journey  on 
sea,  river,  lake,  and  land,  by  way  of  Kob^  and 
Osaka,  to  Fukui.  From  March  4 until  January 
22,  I saw  life  in  a daimio’s  castle  town ; and  dur- 
ing most  of  this  time  I was  entirely  alone,  and 
hundreds  of  miles  away  from  a white  person. 
The  feudal  system  was  in  practical  operation  until 
October,  when  the  daimio  in  the  great  hall  of  the 
castle  bade  a solemn  farewell  to  his  retainers. 
Over  the  snowy  mountains,  in  January,  1 made  a 
journey  of  eleven  days  to  Tokio.  Except  occa- 


NEW  JAPAN 


223 


sional  journeys  to  near  or  distant  places  in  Japan, 
I remained  in  the  capital  until  July,  1874.  Let 
me  here  summarize  what  I saw : — 

1.  The  Emperor  no  longer  living  invisible  like 
a god,  but  appearing  in  public. 

2.  The  government  in  the  hands  of  men  of  Eu- 
ropean ideas,  who  had  been  educated  in  the  Dutch 
or  the  English  language. 

3.  Feudalism  abolished,  and  all  the  daimios 
called  to  live  in  Tokio,  about  three  hundred  petty 
little  governments  becoming  one. 

4.  The  old  adherents  of  the  Shogun,  and  the 
members  of  the  Tokugawa  family,  pardoned  and 
restored  to  honor  ; the  country  at  peace. 

5.  National  systems  of  law,  justice,  money, 
postal  service,  education,  banks,  lighthouses,  rail- 
ways, telegraphs,  taxation  and  revenue,  with  an 
army,  navy,  treasury,  organized  for  the  service  of 
the  nation. 

6.  All  rebellions  against  the  national  govern- 
ment speedily  suppressed,  and  order  maintained 
over  the  whole  empire,  including  Riu  Kiu  and 
Yezo. 

7.  All  claim  upon  Corea  as  a military  nation 
given  up,  a treaty  of  peace  and  commerce  being 
afterwards  made. 

8.  A most  wonderful  change  in  the  dress,  food, 
ideas,  habits,  and  customs  of  many  of  the  people, 
and  the  general  adoption  of  the  outward  features 
of  the  civilization  of  Christendom. 


224 


JAPAN 


9.  The  persecution  of  Christians  stopped,  and 
the  public  edicts  threatening  punishment  removed ; 
Christian  schools  and  churches  organized. 

Before  leaving  Japan  I had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  the  Prime  Minister  and  most  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet  on  their  return  from  the  em- 
bassy sent  by  the  Emperor  round  the  world  to 
study  the  civilization  of  the  United  States  and 
Europe.  Besides  seeing  his  Majesty  many  times 
in  public,  I enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  an  audience 
in  the  imperial  palace.  New  Year’s  Day,  1873. 

The  chief  events  since  1874  have  been  those 
leading  to  the  promulgation  of  the  written  consti- 
tution of  February  11,  1889,  under  which  Japan 
is  now  governed.  New  orders  of  nobility  were 
created.  The  old  names  of  huge  or  court  no- 
ble, and  daimio  or  landed  noble,  and  most  of 
the  old  titles  and  offices,  were  abolished,  and 
the  two  classes  merged  into  one  under  the  name 
of  kuazohu^  or  “ flowery  nobility,”  with  several 
ranks.  The  Samurai,  now  called  shizohu^  gave 
up  wearing  swords,  and  relinquished  their  he- 
reditary incomes,  paying  taxes  like  the  common 
people  ; the  latter  being  admitted  to  the  privi- 
leges, under  restrictions,  of  voting  for  and  in  the 
local  and  national  assemblies,  and  also  of  serving 
in  the  army  and  navy.  The  various  classes  below 
the  shizohu  were  made  one,  the  hei-min^  or  peo- 
ple. The  land-tax  was  first  equalized  and  then 
reduced.  Local  government  was  introduced  into 


NEW  JAPAN 


225 


all  the  ken^  or  prefectures,  the  Christian  missiona- 
ries and  native  churches  doing  very  much  for  the 
education  of  the  people  in  parliamentary  order. 
The  number  of  public  officers  and  underlings  was 
greatly  diminished.  In  a word,  government  be- 
came national  and  uniform. 

Among  the  people,  taste  for  foreign  architec- 
ture, furniture,  dress,  food,  and  social  manners  and 
amusements  greatly  increased.  There  were  also 
crazes  or  manias  for  things  imported  from  across 
the  ocean.  Rabbits,  pigs,  cock-fighting,  waltzing, 
spirit-rapping,  wrestling,  fencing,  and  a variety  of 
ridiculous  notions  came  in  vogue,  each  for  a short 
season.  The  waves  of  excitement  and  desire  for 
novelties  flowed  and  ebbed.  The  Japanese  showed 
themselves  as  crazy  as  excited  Americans  often 
are  over  the  fashionable  phantoms  of  a day.  In 
every  instance  came  the  inevitable  reaction,  and 
native  customs,  amusements,  dress,  ideas,  and 
things  of  the  older  time  ruled  the  day  again,  for 
a while  only,  in  their  turn  to  pass  away.  Japan, 
by  incessant  change,  made  up  for  three  centuries 
of  rigidity.  The  changing  tides  of  fashion  set 
in  and  went  out  so  rapidly,  and  often  so  vio- 
lently, that  one  would  think  Queen  Jingu  was  still 
playing  with  the  jewels  of  the  ebbing  and  flowing 
ocean-tide,  fooling  the  Japanese  as  she  fooled  the 
Coreans. 

The  greatest  event  in  modern  Japan  was  the 
giving  of  the  constitution  of  February  11,  1889. 


226 


JAPAN 


This  took  place  almost  exactly  twenty-five  years 
after  Perry’s  second  visit  to  Japan  and  the  call- 
ing of  a great  council  of  daimios  in  Yedo  to  de- 
cide on  the  opening  of  the  country  to  foreign  in- 
tercourse. The  day  was  one  of  popular  rejoicing, 
probably  exceeding  anything  ever  known  in  the 
empire.  Posthumous  honors  were  bestowed  upon 
the  “ Morning  Stars  of  the  Kestoration,”  and  es- 
pecially upon  those  who  had,  in  years  gone  by, 
advocated  representative  assemblies. 

Government  under  the  new  constitution  is  mod- 
eled after  that  of  Germany,  rather  than  that  of 
Great  Britain.  The  Cabinet  ministers  are  respon- 
sible to  the  Emperor,  and  not  to  the  Diet.  All  the 
people  are  equal  before  the  law,  and  are  granted 
the  rights  of  conscience  and  most  of  the  privi- 
leges of  people  in  Europe.  The  Diet  meets  in  two 
handsome  edifices  built  in  modern  style,  with 
chairs,  clocks,  electric  lights,  telegraphic  facilities, 
and  newspaper  reporters,  and  is  conducted  in 
European  fashion.  The  upper  house  consists  of 
about  three  hundred  nobles  and  persons  nominated 
by  the  Emperor.  In  the  lower  house,  the  three 
hundred  members  are  elected  by  voters  who  pay 
fifteen  dollars  of  national  taxes.  The  chief  work 
of  the  Diet  is  to  express  the  public  opinion  of  the 
country,  and  to  shape  the  general  policy  of  the 
government.  From  1868  until  1890,  so  many 
members  of  the  three  clans  of  Satsuma,  Choshiu, 
and  Tosa  filled  the  high  offices  that  people  called 


NEW  JAPAN  227 

the  government  “ Sa-cho-to.”  This  monopoly  of 
office  and  power  has  now  passed  away. 

With  her  changed  ideals  of  civilization,  hearty 
acceptance  of  modern  principles  of  law  and  jus- 
tice, with  her  railways,  telegraphs,  lighthouses, 
schools,  colleges,  postal  and  money  systems,  Japan 
now  asks  to  be  acknowledged  and  received  by  the 
treaty  powers  as  an  equal  among  civilized  nations. 
With  her  constitution,  granting  liberty  of  con- 
science to  all  subjects  of  the  Emperor,  and  with 
her  increasing  Christian  population,  the  day  can- 
not be  distant  when  tardy  justice  will  be  meted  to 
her. 

Shall  it  be  given  ? Americans  all,  Townsend 
Harris  and  the  missionaries  first,  then  teachers, 
merchants,  and  the  government  at  Washington, 
have  long  ago  voted  “ Yes.” 

In  the  Centennial  Exposition  at  Philadelphia 
in  1876,  in  the  rotunda  of  the  main  hall,  a poem 
in  Mra-hana  was  painted  in  large  letters.  It  was 
written  a thousand  years  ago.  We  translate  it  as 
follows : — 

“In  the  ancient  Yamato  island,  the  sun  rises: 

Must  not  even  the  foreigner  reverence  ? ” 


INDEX 


Aborigines.  See  Ainu. 

Adams,  Will,  194. 

Adzuma,  48. 

Ainu,  16,  17,  127. 

Alphabet,  83. 

America  and  Americans,  1,  16,  147, 
208-218,  222,  227. 

Amusements,  39,  65,  67,  187. 

Art  and  artists,  37,  40,  54,  96,  103, 
122,  123,  152,  153. 

Awabi,  2,  138. 

Bamboo,  37,  66. 

Birds,  31,  102,  105,  185,  190. 

Benk^i,  114,  127. 

Black  Current,  5,  15,  16,  90. 
Buddhism,  56, 59,  70,  71,  75,  115,  118, 
136,  168,  172. 

California,  1,  50. 

China,  12,  13,  77,  81,  147,  148,  205. 
Choshiu,  163,  204,  216,  217,  226. 
Christianity,  162,  168,  192,  201,  223, 
224. 

Chronology,  24,  25. 

Columbus,  147,  150. 

Constitution,  21-23,  79,  224. 

Corea,  17-19,  39,  43,  52-56,  80,  158- 
161,  223. 

Creation,  26-28. 

Crystal  balls,  28,  29, 52,  143, 171,  225. 

Daimios,  162-165,  174,  180,  186,  218, 
222  223. 

D^shima,  193,  196,  200. 

Dragons,  25,  28,  139. 

Dutch,  161,  192-203,  223. 

Earthquake,  61. 

Echizen,  85,  152,  156,  218,  221. 
Emperors.  See  Mikado, 

Empresses.  See  Women. 

Eta,  165,  222. 

Etiquette,  79,  101. 

Fans,  99-101. 

Farmers,  9,  72,  74. 


Female  characters.  See  Women. 
Feudalism,  73-75,  119,  120,  157,  161- 
165,  174,  222. 

Fire,  50. 

Folk-lore,  59,  64,  66-68,  77,  96-98, 
114,  115,  133, 137-144, 175,  183-191. 
Fuji  Yama,  47,  94. 

Fujiwara,  94,131. 

Fukui,  151,  156,  163,  222. 

Games,  39,  102-104. 

Gardens,  169. 

Genji.  See  Minamoto. 

Genji  Monogatari,  63,  104. 

Geography  of  Japan,  1-7. 
Government,  71-75, 118-123, 161-165, 
222-227. 

Hachiman.  See  Ojin. 

Hara-kiri,  132,  135,  136,  216. 

Harris,  Townsend,  213,  215,  227. 
Heik6.  See  Taira. 

Hid^yoshi.  See  Taiko. 

Hojo,  131-136,  141. 

Hokusai,  85,  123. 

Idzu,  110,  131,  213. 
ly^yasu,  154,  159-162,  195. 

Jewels.  See  Crystal  Balls,  34,  37, 
53,  54,  171. 

Jingu,  52-56. 

Kamakura,  111,  117-121,  160. 

Kioto,  89,  162,  217-220. 

Kiushiu,  5. 

Kiyomori,  108,  109-113,  116. 

Kobo,  58,  85. 

Kojiki,  40,  43,  82. 

Libraries,  55,  77,  78,  134,  203,  204. 
Literature,  76-79,  80-88,  152,  203, 
205. 

Manners,  99-107,  223. 

Marco  Polo,  136,  150. 

Masago,  131. 


230 


INDEX 


Mendez  Einto,  149,  150. 

Mexico,  150. 

Mikado,  21-25,  42-44,  70-71,  97,  98, 
162,  212,  219,  223. 

Minamoto,  93,  108-116,  150,  159. 
Mirrors,  35,  37,  188. 

Mito,  165,  174,  204,  205. 

Mongols,  134. 

Moon,  28,  36,  50,  64,  65,  66,  168. 
Music,  37,  142. 

Mythology,  32-41,  49. 

Nagasaki,  156,  193,  196,  211. 

Names  of  gods,  26-30,  34,  54. 

Names  of  Japan,  6,  7,  14,  18,  41,  86- 
91,  130,  135. 

Names  of  Taiko,  155. 

New  Year’s  Day,  38,  188-224 
Nitta,  182,  145. 

Nobunaga,  152-155. 

Ojin,  53,  54,  111. 

Oranges,  45. 

Origin  olE  art,  32-41. 

Pagodas,  166,  170.  171. 

Paintings,  96-98,  153. 

Perry,  50,  130,  194,  198,  210-213. 
Poetry,  37, 40,  49,  50,  85,  86,  105,  211, 
919 

Polo,  103. 

Population,  8,  9. 

Rai,  205,  206. . 

Regalia.  28,  116,  145. 

Rice,  101,  102. 

Ronin,  148,  216,  216. 


Rutgers  College,  221. 

Sak^,  101,  102. 

Samurai,  74-79,  135,  215,  222,  224. 
Satsuma,  159,  218,  219,  224. 

Schools,  76-79,  222. 

Shimono.seki,  113,  114,  217. 

Shinto,  68,  75,  76,  162,  204. 

Shogun,  51,  120,  161,  174,  212,  216- 
220,  223. 

Stars,  63,  64,  187. 

Swords,  30,  46,  47,  68,  134,  135,  216, 

222. 

Taiko.  154-159. 

Taira,' 93,  108-116,  133,  151. 

Tokio,  23,  133,  220. 

Tokiwa,  109,  110. 

Tokugawa,  159. 

Tombs,  167,  172,  173. 

Tosa  Niki,  105. 

Tycoon.  See  Shogun. 

Uzum^i,  32-35,  60. 

Volcanoes,  2. 

Whales,  209,  210. 

Women,  26,  27,  28,  32,  33,  37,  38,  39, 
44,  48,  52,  104,  131. 

Yamato,  20,  31,  61. 

Y.amato  Dak6  no  Mikoto,  45-50. 
Yedo,  160,  161,  164,  196,  200,  220, 
222. 

Yoritomo,  110-113,  117-121. 
Yoshitsun^,  100,  124-128. 


C|)e  B^ibersilie  iLtbrar^ 

for  goung  l^eople. 

tA  Series  of  Volumes  devoted  to  History,  Biography, 

Mechanics,  Travel,  Natural  History,  and  Adventure.  -IVitb 
Maps,  Portraits,  etc.,  where  needed  for  fuller  illustra- 
tion of  the  volume.  Each,  uniform,  strongly  bound 
in  cloth,  i6mo,  200-2^0  pages,  75  cents. 

1 . The  War  of  Independence. 

By  John  Fiske.  With  Maps. 

2.  George  Washington : zAn  Historical  Biography. 

By  Horace  E.  Scudder.  With  Portrait  and  Illustra- 
tions. 

f.  Birds  through  an  Opera  Glass. 

By  Florence  A.  Merriam.  Illustrated. 

4.  Up  and  Down  the  Brooks. 

By  Mary  E.  Bamford.  Illustrated. 

5.  Coal  and  the  Coal  Mines. 

By  Homer  Greene.  Illustrated. 

6.  eA  New  England  Girlhood,  Outlined  from  Memory. 

By  Lucy  Larcom. 

7.  fava  : The  Tear  I of  the  East. 

By  Mrs.  S.  J.  Higginson.  With  a Map. 

8.  Girls  and  Women. 

By  E.  Chester. 

9.  A Book  of  Eamous  Herse. 

Selected  and  arranged  by  Agnes  Repplier. 

10.  Japan : In  History,  Folk-Lore,  and  Art. 

By  William  Elliot  Griffis,  D.  D. 

/ 1 . Brave  Little  Holland,  and  What  she  has  Taught  us. 

By  William  Elliot  Griffis,  D.  D. 

{Others  in  Preparation^) 


Critical  il5oritt£(. 


FISKE'S  War  of  Independence. 

John  Fiske’s  book,  “ The  War  of  Independence,”  is  a miracle.  I can  never 
understand  why,  when  a perfect  literary  work  is  issued,  all  the  critics  do  not 
clap  their  hands  ! I think  it  must  be  because  they  never  read  the  books.  This 
story  of  the  war  is  such  a book,  brilliant  and  effective  beyond  measure.  It 
should  be  read  by  every  voter  in  the  United  States.  It  is  a statement  that 
every  child  can  comprehend,  but  that  only  a man  of  consummate  genius  could 
have  written.  — Mrs.  Caroline  H.  Ball,  in  the  Springfield  Republican. 

The  story  of  the  Revolution,  as  Mr.  Fiske  tells  it,  is  one  of  surpassing  in 
terest.  His  treatment  is  a marvel  of  clearness  and  comprehensiveness  ; dis 
carding  non-essential  details,  he  selects  with  a fine  historic  instinct  the  main 
currents  of  history,  traces  them  with  the  utmost  precision,  and  tells  the  whole 
story  in  a masterly  fashion.  His  little  volume  will  be  a text-book  for  older 
quite  as  much  as  for  young  readers.  — Christian  Union. 


SCUDDER'S  George  Washington. 

Mr.  Scudder’s  biography  of  Washington  is  a fit  companion  volume  for  Mr. 
Fiske's  little  history.  It  tells  the  story  of  the  great  patriot,  soldier,  and  states- 
man with  simplicity,  sincerity,  and  completeness.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
of  these  books  that  they  ought  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  every  boy  and  girl, 
not  only  because  of  that  which  they  contain,  but  because  of  the  soundness 
of  their  form.  — Christian  Union  (New  York). 

Mr.  Horace  E.  Scudder  has  executed  a difficult  task  in  a praiseworthy 
manner.  In  spite  of  the  innumerable  lives  of  the  first  President,  who  shall 
say  anything  new  of  his  career  and  paint  it  in  fresh  colors  ? Mr.  Scudder 
has  been  able  to  do  this,  and  his  book  will  be  welcomed  by  old  and  young. 
— Boston  Beacon. 


(MERRIAM'S  ‘Birds  through  an  Opera  Glass. 

A capital  text-book  of  the  right  sort  for  young  observers  of  Natural  His- 
tory. By  text-book  we  do  not  mean  a formal  school-book,  but  a book  with  a 
clear  method,  a capital  style,  and  adequate  information.  This  little  volume 
describes  all  the  birds  to  be  found  in  our  fields  and  woods ; describes  them, 
not  as  an  ornithological  treatise,  but  as  a keen-eyed  and  thoroughly  interest- 
ing observer  would  describe  them.  Such  a volume  ought  to  be  the  com- 
panion of  every  intelligent  boy  and  girl  during  the  summer.  — Christian 
Union  (New  York). 

The  book  is  deserving  of  praise  for  its  eminently  practical  nature.  The 
hints  to  observers  with  which  it  opens,  the  appendix  giving  the  classification 
of  birds  by  general  family  characteristics,  by  localities,  by  colors,  by  song, 
the  books  of  reference,  and  the  index,  all  combine  to  make  the  book  extrePiely 
useful.  — The  Academy  (Syracuse). 


GREENERS  Coal  and  the  Coal  Mines. 

In  the  vehicle  of  the  author’s  terse,  vigorous  language,  the  reader  is  then 
taken  down  into  the  subterranean  passages,  where  he  is  almost  made  to  see 
the  operations  of  mining  the  fuel,  so  vividly  and  picturesquely  is  the  infor- 
mation conveyed.  Interesting  and  valuable  statistics  are  quoted,  amusing 
incidents  are  related,  entertaining  descriptions  and  wise  suggestions  are 
given  and  made,  and,  taken  altogether,  though  dealing  largely  with  what  is 
essentially  dry  in  its  nature,  the  book  makes  good  reading  for  the  old  as  well 
as  the  young. — The  American  (Philadelphia). 

The  exhaustive  theme  of  coal  and  coal  mining  is  made  so  concise  and 
simple  that  a child  can  thoroughly  comprehend  it.  The  author  covers  the 
ground  of  study  in  a simple  and  interesting  way,  and  furnishes  illustrations 
to  make  the  words  clearer.  — New  York  School  Journal. 

MISS  BAMFORTJ’S  Up  and  Down  the  Brooks. 

This  is  a book  which  it  is  a pleasure  to  read  and  a duty  to  praise.  Miss 
Bamford  tells  us  of  her  rambles  by  the  California  brookside,  and  her  ac- 
quaintances made  there ; of  their  habits,  their  transformations,  death  and 
burial,  or  happier  release  after  a period  of  observation  by  the  captor.  . . . 
On  the  whole,  we  do  "not  know  among  recent  books  any  more  likely  to  give 
pleasure  to  the  nature-loving  boy  or  girl,  or  more  calculated  to  stimulate  the 
taste  for  healthy  recreation  and  good  reading.  — The  Nation  (New  York). 

A charming  book,  full  of  most  fascinating  details  in  the  lives  of  little- 
known  insects,  and  opening  a rich  field  of  study  and  interest,  accessible  to 
every  country  child.  . . . We  would  put  the  book  into  the  hands  of  every 
girl  and  boy.  — Epoch  (New  York). 

MISS  LARCOM^S  New  England  Girlhood. 

More  than  all,  as  a vivid,  tenderly  sympathetic  yet  uncompromisingly 
truthful  picture  of  phases  of  New  England  life,  in  home  and  at  work,  which 
have  now  practically  ceased  to  be,  the  book  has  a permanent,  one  may  say 
an  historical  value.  — Boston  Advertiser. 

The  story  is  one  that  will  aid  other  girls  to  make  the  most  of  their  oppor- 
tunities, and  help  them  in  understanding  the  real  value  of  life.  It  is  a book 
that  every  girl  will  be  better  for  having  read.  — Boston  Herald. 

E.  CHESTER’S  Girls  and  IVomen. 

I do  sincerely  hope  that  all  the  girls  of  the  day  may  read  it ; it  is  capable 
of  making  a splendid  generation  of  them.  ...  I shall  be  very  glad  if  any 
words  of  mine  can  aid  in  the  least  the  introduction  to  notice  of  such  a book 
as  “ Girls  and  Women.”  It  will  not  need  much  praise;  it  wiU  praise  itself. 
— .Adeline  D.  T.  Whitney,  Milton,  Mass. 

It  fills  the  place  for  young  women  that  is  filled  for  young  men  by  Dr. 
Munger’s  book,  “ On  the  Threshold.”  . . . Miss  Chester’s  words  are  worth 
their  weight  in  gold.  — Boston  Herald. 

There  are  not  very  many  such  books  written  in  a manner  both  instructive 
and  enjoyable,  and  thiswill  be  a valuable  addition  to  any  young  girl’s  library, 
and  also  a suitable  volume  to  take  up  and  read  aloud  at  home  or  in  social 
groups  when  fiction  becomes  a weariness.  — Lucy  Larcom,  Beverly,  Mass. 

An  admirable  boak,  the  work  of  a practical  woman,  of  a wise  woman,  a 
woman  of  weil  rounded  character  and  warm  sympathies.  — The  Evangelist 
(New  York). 


MISS  REPPLIER^S  A Book  of  Famous  ^erse. 

The  “ Book  of  Famous  Verse,”  which  Agnes  Repplier  has  selected,  is 
primarily  intended  for  children  whose  enjoyment  from  poetry,  being  “ far- 
reaching  and  of  many  kinds,”  she  wisely  thinks  should  be  obtained  from  the 
noblest  streams.  Accordingly,  she  has  chosen  this  collection  from  the  rich 
orchard  field  of  English  verse,  with  the  sole  purpose  of  giving  pleasure,  and 
with  an  effort  carefully  to  study  the  tastes,  feelings,  and  wishes  of  children. 
The  collection  has  been  made  with  much  intelligence  as  well  as  care,  and 
better  will  be  that  child  into  whose  hands  it  falls.  — New  York  Times. 

One  can  only  praise  the  good  feeling,  good  taste,  and  good  judgment 
shown  in  the  selections  which  have  been  made.  The  child  who  becomes  fa- 
miliar with  these  poems  may  be  sure  of  acquaintance  with  that  which  is  best 
in  the  poetry  of  our  English  tongue.  — Christian  Register  (Boston^. 

The  older  children  often  desire  a volume  which,  without  being  too  bulky, 
may  contain  the  best  of  the  standard  ballads  and  other  favorite  poems. 
Miss  Agnes  Repplier  has  made  a collection  which  will  supply  this  need  very 
well.  — The  Congregationalist. 

DR.  GRIFFIS’S  Japan. 

In  writing  of  the  “history,  folk-lore  and  art”  of  Japan,  Dr.  Griffis  has 
found  occasion  to  discuss  quite  fully  the  history  of  both  the  people  and  the 
Government.  His  opportunities  for  gaining  a knowledge  of  these  subjects 
were  exceptionally  good,  for  he  was  upon  the  ground  before  old  Japan  had 
retired  from  the  stage,  and  he  saw  much  of  the  struggle  between  the  old  or- 
der of  things  and  the  new.  The  story  of  this  revolution  is  of  special  interest 
to  our  people,  since  it  is  due  largely  to  the  example,  the  influence,  and  the 
teaching  of  America  that  new  Japan  is  the  first  of  oriental  countries  to  try 
the  experiment  of  constitutional  government  and  of  western  civilization. 
. . . Most  of  the  volume  is  occupied  with  myths  that  bear  about  the  same 
resemblance  to  the  myths  of  the  Greeks  that  Japanese  art  bears  to  the  art 
with  which  we  are  familiar.  . . . The  explanation  of  the  myths  admits  us  to 
the  world  of  thought  and  sentiment  in  which  the  people  live.  — Boston 
Transcript. 


HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  & CO.,  Boston. 

II  East  17TH  Street,  New  York. 


Date  Due 


(H 

PRINTED 

IN  U.  S.  A. 

